GAME RESERVES 863 



fear we do not sufficiently realise that in the 

 important matter of game preservation ; in 

 relation to the wonderful fauna of Africa, a 

 fauna probably unsurpassed in any portion 

 of the world's surface which so many of our 

 colonies contain to-day, we are merely the 

 trustees of posterity, and have no right or title 

 at the behest of irresponsible and not seldom 

 self-seeking individuals to allow the birth -right 

 of the future to be imperilled by the perhaps 

 immaturely considered decrees of to-day. 



In this connection I think that the un- 

 doubted benefits which have resulted from the 

 formation of game protection societies, especially 

 in certain portions of South Africa, are such as 

 should give rise to an extension of the move- 

 ment to others of our dependencies where the 

 advantages of these associations may not have 

 received sufficient attention. From such bodies 

 as these, and from the salutary influences which 

 they undoubtedly wield, public opinion is largely 

 formed, and my own view of the question of game 

 preservation is that in public opinion properly 

 moulded will the game beasts of the future find 

 their chief protection. After all, when one comes 

 seriously to consider the question, the safeguards 

 afforded by regulations and reserves are far from 

 being measures upon which for game preserva- 

 tion permanent reliance can be securely placed. 

 Governors come and go, and with the arrival of 

 each new-comer, did the wild things but know 

 the issues involved, a tremor of apprehension 

 might well thrill through the heart of the jungle. 



