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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



TRUNK OF GIANT FIG 



bicycling from one to the other to take 

 part in a rehearsal of "Trial by Jury," 

 was knocked off her bicycle by a stam- 

 pede of zebras, and was really quite hurt 

 and had to give up the rehearsal. There 

 was one incident to which really only 

 Mark Twain could have done justice. 



W e all know — any of us who have had 

 any dealings with government offices — 

 the type of bureaucrat who upholds to 

 the letter the rules of his office, even if 

 the heavens fall. Among the "rules" out 

 in East Africa are some excellent game 

 regulations. The head of the reclamation 

 service, a British army officer, Captain 

 Smith, was trying to raise flowers and 

 vegetables, and was much bothered be- 

 cause the zebra and antelope would 

 come in and eat them. One night he 

 heard some zebras in the garden and he 

 sent out the gardener, a wild Masai, with 

 instructions to drive the zebra out. The 

 gardener killed a zebra ; whereupon an 

 upright judge fined the gardener for kill- 

 ing game without a license! I do not 



Photo by Heller. Copyright by Charles Scribners Sons 

 TREE IN KENIA FOREST 



think that the most sensitive soul could 

 object to my calling that judge fossilized. 



Well, Captain Smith made up his mind 

 that next time he would strictly observe 

 all of the forms of law. So he arranged 

 some wire entanglements around his gar- 

 den, and when the next herd of zebras 

 came in he and his gardener sallied out, 

 and, when one of the zebras got tangled 

 up in the wire, they captured him, took 

 him down to the pound, and gave him 

 to the poundmaster. The authorities, 

 however, were equal to the situation. 

 They advertised for two weeks for the 

 owner of the zebra ! The owner failing 

 to appear, they then sold him at public 

 auction to a citizen, who gave five shil- 

 lings for him — which was probably at 

 least five shillings too much. 



The largest terrestrial mammal, next 

 to the elephant, is the white rhinoceros. 

 It was formerly found in South Africa, 

 where it is practically exterminated. It 

 was not supposed to exist anywhere else ; 

 but within the last few years it has again 



