﻿154 
  THE 
  ZOOLOGIST. 
  

  

  every 
  time, 
  not 
  one 
  of 
  them 
  seemed 
  to 
  die. 
  No 
  results 
  of 
  the 
  thirty 
  or 
  

   forty 
  shots 
  that 
  had 
  been 
  fired, 
  and 
  yet 
  the 
  animals 
  were 
  within 
  twenty 
  

   or 
  twenty-five 
  yards 
  of 
  us. 
  "Have 
  you 
  killed 
  any, 
  old 
  fellow?" 
  I 
  

   shouted, 
  and 
  the 
  answer 
  came 
  back 
  to 
  me, 
  " 
  No 
  ; 
  but 
  I 
  have 
  hit 
  all 
  I 
  

   fired 
  at." 
  The 
  evening 
  was 
  closing 
  in. 
  One 
  Hippopotamus 
  floated 
  

  

  up 
  dead 
  on 
  's 
  side. 
  Next 
  morning, 
  however, 
  on 
  the 
  surface 
  lay 
  

  

  fourteen 
  huge 
  bodies.' 
  

  

  " 
  Now 
  come 
  to 
  quite 
  recent 
  times. 
  When 
  in 
  Vienna 
  the 
  other 
  day, 
  

   I 
  saw, 
  at 
  the 
  taxidermist's, 
  the 
  bag 
  of 
  a 
  sportsman 
  just 
  returned 
  from 
  

   Somaliland. 
  Among 
  other 
  things 
  there 
  were 
  seventy 
  heads 
  of 
  Soem- 
  

   mering's 
  Gazelle. 
  What 
  can 
  one 
  man 
  want 
  with 
  seventy 
  specimens 
  ? 
  

   But 
  the 
  remarkable 
  thing 
  about 
  them 
  was 
  that 
  nearly 
  the 
  whole 
  were 
  

   females 
  or 
  immature 
  males. 
  To 
  anyone 
  knowing 
  the 
  habits 
  of 
  this 
  

   species, 
  which 
  is 
  to 
  feed 
  in 
  large 
  herds 
  on 
  the 
  open 
  plain, 
  where 
  they 
  

   may 
  be 
  readily 
  approached 
  to 
  within 
  three 
  or 
  four 
  hundred 
  yards, 
  it 
  

   was 
  perfectly 
  evident 
  that 
  these 
  had 
  been 
  obtained 
  by 
  shooting 
  into 
  the 
  

   brown 
  at 
  about 
  that 
  distance 
  — 
  a 
  very 
  easy 
  thing 
  with 
  a 
  modern 
  small- 
  

   bore 
  rifle, 
  but 
  hideously 
  destructive 
  and 
  cruel. 
  

  

  •'It 
  is 
  the 
  invention 
  of 
  smokeless 
  powder 
  and 
  small-bore 
  bullets 
  

   which 
  marks 
  this 
  latest 
  advance 
  in 
  destruction. 
  Their 
  enormous 
  speed 
  

   and 
  penetration 
  and 
  absence 
  of 
  recoil 
  make 
  fun-shooting 
  easy, 
  even 
  to 
  

   a 
  beginner 
  ; 
  while 
  the 
  lightness 
  and 
  cheapness 
  of 
  cartridges 
  tempt 
  the 
  

   novice 
  to 
  carry 
  a 
  number, 
  and 
  to 
  fire 
  them 
  away 
  at 
  long 
  ranges. 
  Why, 
  

   it 
  has 
  revolutionized 
  war, 
  and 
  enabled 
  a 
  small 
  and 
  backward 
  people 
  to 
  

   hold 
  at 
  bay 
  a 
  powerful 
  empire. 
  What 
  wonder 
  if 
  it 
  gives 
  the 
  greedy 
  

   sportsman 
  an 
  undue 
  advantage. 
  

  

  " 
  I 
  am 
  here 
  to-night 
  to 
  try 
  and 
  focus 
  and 
  unite 
  the 
  growing 
  public 
  

   sentiment 
  in 
  favour 
  of 
  the 
  restriction 
  of 
  the 
  energies 
  of 
  that 
  class 
  of 
  i 
  

   sportsmen 
  whose 
  frenzy 
  and 
  ignorance 
  have 
  been 
  responsible 
  for 
  such 
  

   terrible 
  destruction. 
  I 
  cannot 
  do 
  better, 
  I 
  think, 
  than 
  concentrate 
  

   your 
  attention 
  for 
  a 
  few 
  minutes 
  on 
  the 
  marvellously 
  rich 
  fauna 
  of 
  

   South 
  Africa 
  a 
  century 
  ago, 
  and 
  compare 
  it 
  with 
  the 
  state 
  of 
  things 
  at 
  

   the 
  present 
  day. 
  

  

  "Here 
  is 
  an 
  old 
  calf-bound 
  book, 
  given 
  to 
  me 
  by 
  my 
  grandfather 
  

   fifty- 
  four 
  years 
  ago, 
  and 
  which 
  had 
  lain 
  for 
  a 
  similar 
  period 
  on 
  the 
  

   family 
  bookshelf. 
  I 
  may 
  be 
  excused 
  for 
  reverting 
  to 
  it, 
  as 
  I 
  imbibed 
  

   from 
  it 
  the 
  first 
  love 
  of 
  the 
  wilderness. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  translation 
  of 
  the 
  

   travels 
  of 
  M. 
  Vaillant, 
  a 
  Frenchman, 
  in 
  1780. 
  He 
  trekked 
  out 
  from 
  

   the 
  Cape, 
  and 
  thus 
  describes 
  what 
  he 
  saw 
  in 
  the 
  near 
  neighbourhood 
  : 
  — 
  

   ' 
  In 
  the 
  space 
  of 
  four 
  leagues,' 
  he 
  says, 
  ' 
  we 
  had 
  on 
  all 
  sides 
  very 
  near 
  

   us 
  Gazelles, 
  Bontibocks, 
  Bubales, 
  with 
  numbers 
  of 
  Zebras, 
  Ostriches, 
  

   &c. 
  My 
  Dogs 
  eagerly 
  pursued 
  these 
  creatures, 
  who 
  mingled 
  as 
  they 
  

  

  

  