XXVI ANIMALS WHICH PROVIDE SPORT 
255 
no means too unsporting or too drastic. There are, 
however, large tracts of country far from the haunt 
of man where the lion does no harm and effects no 
worse purpose than to keep the balance of nature 
exact. Is there any reason why in such districts he 
should still be the victim of ruthless slaughter, and to 
no other end than that another American should hold 
yet another record ? I submit that it could do no harm 
if in such out-districts the lion were put on the same 
footing as other, and in some cases less desirable, 
game animals, and that the number obtainable on each 
sportsman’s licence be limited. The advantage to the 
Protectorate would not be merely sentimental, but 
also pecuniary. With this short notice we must leave 
a fascinating subject, expressing the hope that it may 
be many a long year before the grunt of the lion may 
be heard no longer over the barren tracts of the 
Protectorate. 
The Buffalo .—Next to the lion, the buffalo provides 
the most general sport to settlers, and a trophy even 
grander than the former. Buffalo haunt the verge of 
a considerable number of farms and are within a 
week-end journey of the majority. They were 
formerly to a great extent plain dwellers, and quite 
one of the most common ’ species in the country. 
The rinderpest at the end of the last century played 
havoc with them ; so much so, indeed, that it was 
feared that they were absolutely exterminated. Three 
or four small herds did actually survive, and these 
have multiplied so wonderfully that buffalo now exist 
in thousands. In 1910 and 1911 more than 700 were 
killed. Very wisely, however, they have never re¬ 
sumed their plain-loving habits, but are mainly to be 
found in thick bush or forest. The only places where 
