2 A NATURAL CLOSE SEASON 



time whereat the preservation of the beautitul 

 varieties now growing rarer and rarer in the 

 more accessible portions of the great continent 

 was indicated, it is the present ; and although 

 I am happy to be able in some measure to con- 

 gratulate both British and Portuguese foresight 

 in having established game reserves in Nyasa- 

 land, the Transvaal, the Province of Mozam- 

 bique and elsewhere, it seems doubtful whether 

 we have done all that we might to secure the 

 safety and preservation of the great game 

 families as a whole. 



That is the entire question. Their preserva- 

 tion, and how best to compass it. During the 

 last ten or fifteen years much has been accom- 

 plished in this direction, but more remains to 

 be done both at the present time and in the 

 future. Of course, as will be easily understood 

 by the large majority of those for whom these 

 pages are written, the hunting of big game is 

 an extremely absorbing pursuit, and one which, 

 in the absence of due regulation, would no doubt 

 be abused by many. Nature herself was the 

 first to impose restraint, and a formidable one 

 it is. Thus in Zambezia for fully six months 

 of every year, namely, from January to July, 

 hunting is attended by the almost insurmount- 

 able difficulties presented by the immense height 

 of the unburned grasses, and the impassable 

 luxuriance of the summer vegetation. It is 

 not, therefore, until the earth has cleansed 

 itself by fire of the huge burden left by the hot 

 rainy season that the hunter can commence 



