﻿15G 
  THE 
  ZOOLOGIST. 
  

  

  numbers 
  lost,' 
  as 
  if 
  that 
  were 
  something 
  to 
  his 
  credit. 
  Indeed, 
  it 
  would 
  

   seem 
  that 
  the 
  numbers 
  lost 
  were 
  almost 
  equal 
  to 
  those 
  secured. 
  

  

  " 
  Thirty 
  years 
  later 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  Cape 
  Colony 
  was 
  denuded 
  of 
  game, 
  

   but 
  Oswell, 
  Livingstone, 
  and 
  others 
  still 
  found 
  vast 
  herds 
  beyond 
  the 
  

   Orange 
  River. 
  Near 
  the 
  Matopo 
  River, 
  Oswell 
  describes 
  : 
  ' 
  Seven 
  

   different 
  kinds 
  of 
  animals 
  within 
  view, 
  some, 
  especially 
  the 
  Quaggas 
  

   and 
  Buffaloes, 
  in 
  large 
  herds, 
  Springbucks, 
  Hartebeest, 
  Gnus, 
  &c, 
  

   filling 
  in 
  the 
  picture 
  ; 
  together 
  there 
  could 
  not 
  have 
  been 
  less 
  than 
  

   three 
  hundred.' 
  Of 
  these 
  the 
  Quaggas, 
  or 
  Mountain 
  Zebra 
  — 
  a 
  most 
  

   graceful 
  animal 
  — 
  are 
  completely 
  extinct. 
  Here 
  is 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  

   another 
  of 
  the 
  beasts 
  which 
  have 
  perished 
  ; 
  the 
  Borili, 
  or 
  ' 
  sour- 
  

   tempered 
  one,' 
  as 
  the 
  Kaffirs 
  called 
  him 
  — 
  the 
  White 
  Rhinoceros: 
  

   1 
  Poor, 
  stupid, 
  old 
  fellow,' 
  he 
  says 
  ; 
  ' 
  too 
  quiet, 
  as 
  a 
  rule, 
  though, 
  when 
  

   thoroughly 
  upset, 
  reckless 
  ; 
  he 
  was 
  just 
  the 
  very 
  thing 
  for 
  young 
  gun- 
  

   ners 
  to 
  try 
  their 
  prentice 
  hand 
  on.' 
  You 
  see 
  young 
  gunners 
  must 
  

   have 
  something 
  to 
  blood 
  themselves 
  upon 
  which 
  is 
  too 
  clumsy 
  to 
  get 
  

   away, 
  just 
  as 
  you 
  draw 
  the 
  teeth 
  of 
  rats 
  when 
  you 
  are 
  entering 
  a 
  young 
  

   terrier 
  to 
  them. 
  

  

  " 
  A 
  much 
  more 
  valuable 
  world's 
  asset 
  at 
  this 
  time 
  than 
  the 
  Rhino- 
  

   ceros 
  or 
  Hippopotamus 
  were 
  the 
  Elephants. 
  Oswell, 
  in 
  1850, 
  de- 
  

   scribes 
  seeing, 
  near 
  Lake 
  Gnami, 
  four 
  hundred 
  Elephants 
  standing 
  

   drowsily 
  in 
  the 
  shade 
  of 
  the 
  detached 
  clumps 
  of 
  mimosa 
  trees 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  

   the 
  eye 
  could 
  reach 
  in 
  a 
  fairly 
  open 
  country. 
  ' 
  There 
  was 
  nothing 
  but 
  

   Elephants. 
  I 
  do 
  not 
  mean 
  in 
  serried 
  masses, 
  but 
  in 
  small 
  separate 
  

   groups.' 
  

  

  " 
  But 
  the 
  sad 
  story 
  of 
  Elephant 
  slaughter 
  during 
  the 
  nineteenth 
  

   century 
  should 
  be 
  examined 
  a 
  little 
  more 
  in 
  detail. 
  Not 
  only 
  has 
  a 
  

   valuable 
  and 
  productive 
  asset 
  been 
  thrown 
  away, 
  but 
  the 
  possible 
  use 
  

   of 
  the 
  Elephant 
  as 
  a 
  friend 
  and 
  servant 
  of 
  man 
  been 
  sacrificed. 
  To 
  

   what 
  purpose 
  was 
  this 
  waste 
  ? 
  The 
  herds 
  were 
  abundant 
  throughout 
  

   Cape 
  Colony 
  at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  eighteenth 
  century, 
  when 
  Barrow, 
  a 
  

   secretary 
  to 
  the 
  Governor, 
  records 
  a 
  herd 
  of 
  four 
  hundred 
  having 
  been 
  

   seen 
  in 
  the 
  neighbourhood 
  shortly 
  before. 
  It 
  is 
  probable 
  that 
  up 
  to 
  

   then, 
  and 
  perhaps 
  for 
  twenty 
  years 
  later, 
  the 
  Elephants 
  suffered 
  no 
  

   great 
  diminution 
  except 
  from 
  traditional 
  methods 
  — 
  pitfalls 
  and 
  spears 
  

   — 
  of 
  the 
  natives. 
  But 
  by 
  1830 
  they 
  had 
  thinned 
  out, 
  and 
  the 
  ivory- 
  

   hunters 
  had 
  to 
  go 
  further 
  afield. 
  When 
  the 
  Boers 
  crossed 
  the 
  Orange 
  

   River 
  they 
  opened 
  out 
  a 
  vast 
  ivory-bearing 
  territory, 
  and 
  great 
  numbers 
  

   of 
  hunters 
  took 
  to 
  Elephant 
  hunting 
  as 
  a 
  profitable 
  profession. 
  Who 
  

   can 
  blame 
  them 
  ? 
  They 
  had 
  to 
  live, 
  and 
  a 
  rich 
  field 
  lay 
  open 
  to 
  the 
  

   bold 
  pioneer 
  who 
  feared 
  neither 
  savage 
  nor 
  wild 
  beast. 
  If 
  blame 
  must 
  

   be 
  allotted, 
  it 
  is 
  to 
  the 
  rulers 
  who 
  recked 
  not 
  of 
  the 
  slaughter 
  going 
  on. 
  

  

  