THE WILD FAUNA OP THE EMPTEE 



79 



fine grazing-grounds which arc now included in the Abyssinian 

 sphere of influence. 



' With the exception of a few small herds on Toyo plain there 

 is not a hartebeeste in this Protectorate. 



' To my certain knowledge no European has shot hartebeeste 

 on Toyo during my residence in this country, and if the species 

 becomes extinct we must thank the Abyssinians for its extermina- 

 tion. Clarke's gazelle is not likely to become extinct now that 

 there are no troops stationed in the area where it is to be found, as 

 the Somalis would never trouble to hunt it. 



'As regards the Bcira, it is never likely to become extinct as it 

 is by no means easy to procure a specimen, although they are to 

 be found in plenty in suitable localities. I doubt whether the 

 most enthusiastic sportsman would trouble to shoot more than one 

 or two of these pretty little antelopes, owing to the difficulty in 

 seeing them even when within eighty yards of them. 



' I venture to say that one of the reasons why the game has 

 disappeared to some extent is the large increase of the vermin 

 during the past few years. 



' During the expeditions against the Mullah the caravan roads 

 were strewn with the carcases of camels and other beasts of 

 burden, in consequence of which hyrenas and jackals were plenti- 

 ful, and owing to the increase of food they bred more freely. 



' As soon, however, as the expeditions came to an end, the 

 hyaena's food supply ran short, and the country was left with 

 a legacy of jackals and hysenas whose boldness became a 

 terror. 



' Even to-day men and women are bitten at night by these 

 pests, and they have even been known to enter the native huts and 

 take away the little children. 



' Time and hunger will remove this superfluity of vermin, and 

 under the present game laws the game, we all sincerely hope, will 

 increase. 



' Eegarding the making of a fresh reserve in the Gadabursi 

 mountains, I might mention that as far aa I can learn only one 

 or two white men have ever entered these hills, and little or 

 nothing is known of them. 



' Certainly no sportsman, to my knowledge, has ever shot big 

 game there with the exception of the brothers Swayne, and even 

 they travelled very quickly through those inhospitable hills. 



' The Gadabursi country has been for years a sanctuary for the 

 game, and until sportsmen hunt there it is quite unnecessary to 

 place it in the Eeserve. 



' Believe me, Sir, yours truly, 



'P. E. Dkake-Bkockman, 

 Member of Society for Preservation of the 

 Fauna of the British Empire. 

 ' Somaliland : December 18, 1900. ' 



