264 
ON SAFARI 
the word is to me almost a term of opprobrium) 
studies his copy of the Game-ordinances, he notices in 
the schedules of game-beasts some names that puzzle, 
others that surprise. The white-tailed gnu, for example, 
he finds is barred : but that he reads with considerable 
complacency, knowing that the species does not exist 
(and never did) within some thousands of miles of the 
equator ; nor will the express exclusion of the mountain 
zebra and the wild ass from his game-list concern him, 
since neither of these inhabits the British Protectorate. 
The mention of “ chevrotain 55 (. Dorcatherium ) may 
cause a passing qualm; but it is only when he reaches 
“ Schedule IIL ” that he realises to the full the advantages 
and powers conferred on him. For in that category he 
finds specified both our unseen friends aforesaid-—the 
aard-vaark and the aard-wolf! True, he is limited to two 
of each species ; but within the space of a brief twelve- 
month, two might prove more than an ample allowance. 
In the next Schedule (IV) the “ settler ”—as 
legally distinguished from the “ sportsman ” aforesaid— 
is, it appears, prohibited from taking even a single 
specimen of either of those reclusive beasts. That may 
possibly be ascribed to one of those bright flashes of 
humour that are occasionally permitted to illumine 
official routine. For it seems conceivable that a settler, 
presuming that he was permanently resident and 
prepared to devote his whole time to the effort (with 
pick, spade and shovel), might, within a year, succeed in 
bringing to the light of day one of these mysterious 
members of the unseen world ! 1 
The African scrub abounds with small cats and a 
hundred other nocturnals that one rarely or never sees, 
and whose very existence eyesight alone would never 
give cause to suspect. At one camp we found ourselves 
alongside Mr. Vernon Shaw-Kennedy, who, with Mr. 
Ateley of the Field-Columbian Museum at Chicago, was 
collecting the smaller mammalia for that great American 
1 The schedules have since been altered, but perhaps my mild 
banter may stand. 
