XXII 
THE DEER 
209 
audience what they consider to be the birthright of 
mankind. This birthright takes the attractive form 
of appropriation. A man, no matter who, is supposed 
to be born with a birthright that will enable him to 
wander (trespass) at will over the grounds of 
another private individual, who has either inherited 
his land, or become a proprietor by purchase. The 
rights of game are questioned, and condemned, as 
“wild creatures are Gods gifts to mankind, and are 
sent for the benefit of all.” 
These gentlemen forget that the important 
element of “water” may be claimed as a gift of 
nature for mankind, but that private wells cannot be 
invaded by the public, neither can springs upon 
private property be interfered with. They also 
wander from historical fact when advancing the 
theory of a natural right to land, or a right to game. 
If these agitators, who know nothing of primeval 
rights of man, were to examine the actual conditions 
of primeval society as represented by the vast 
numbers of tribes in Central Africa, they would 
discover the utter fallacy of their arguments. I 
extract, from what I wrote upon this subject when 
in Africa, a few observations that may be worthy of 
their attention, showing that the earliest rights 
(private rights) of man consisted in the possession 
of land and hunting-grounds :— 
“Although the wilderness between Unyoro and 
Fatiko is uninhabited (about 80 miles), in like 
manner with extensive tracts between Fabbo and 
Fatiko, every portion of that apparently abandoned 
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