THE SPORTSMAN IN SOUTH AFRICA. II 



at Kanya and Molopolole, it can scarcely be termed the true home 

 of any race of human beings. Undisturbed in the recesses of its 

 Httle-trodden solitudes, the Eland here attains a far greater size 

 than elsewhere on the African Continent, and it is the natural resort 

 for the Giraffe, the Gemsbuck, and the Wild Ostrich, while Harte- 

 beest. Wildebeest, and Roan Antelope, when unmolested, are capable 

 of thriving and multiplying in a marked degree. 



If the world were searched from beginning to end, it would be 

 impossible to discover a locality possessing such natural advantages 

 as this portion of the Kalahari for the establishment of a great game 

 preserve, for this vast country has certainly not been created to serve 

 without any end for the benefit of mankind. As if specially ordained 

 by nature for such a purpose, it is so situated as to be far removed 

 from all highways, and contains an abundance of timber, sufficient to. 

 complete hundreds of miles of fence work,* while the necessary 

 water supply can be obtained without much difficulty by sinking on 

 the numerous limestone belts which intersect it. With a little tact 

 and straightforward dealing with the native chiefs, vast areas might 

 thus be acquired at a trifling cost. As matters now remain, it is 

 not beyond the range of probability that after the lapse of the next 

 twenty-five years, the discovery of the remains of some of the 

 larger African fauna will be looked upon with an almost similar 

 degree of interest and veneration as those of the extinct Dodo of 

 Madagascar. 



The idea of the scheme here expressed may certainly appear 

 novel, but it is in every sense of the word thoroughly practicable, 

 and we can see no other method by which the successful preserva- 

 tion of South African game on a large scale can be attempted unless 

 by the formation of a gigantic preserve. If the spirit of enterprise 

 in the Cape Colony be so far dead to this important question, it is 

 quite possible that, of the vast number of gentlemen in England 

 who annually spend what may fairly be termed fortunes for the 

 sake of procuring a few heads of red deer on the Scottish preserves, 

 a number of true sportsmen are still left who would be capable and 

 willing to join in the promotion of such an endeavour as that 

 suggested. 



It must not be forgotten that Cape Town can now be reached 

 from Southampton in the short space of sixteen days, and that by a 



• The great mining district of Witwatersrandt derives its chief supply of timber for 

 shafting purposes from the Westwardly coiirse of the Molopo River in the Kalahari. 



