African Game Trails 
397 
the tiller of the soil, the man whose well¬ 
being should be the prime object to be kept 
in mind by every statesman. Game butch¬ 
ery is as objectionable as any other form of 
wanton cruelty or barbarity; but to protest 
against all hunting of game is a sign of 
necessary to remove a large measure of the 
protection formerly accorded them, and in 
some cases actually to encourage their 
slaughter; and increase in settlement may 
necessitate further changes. But, speaking 
generally, much wisdom, much foresight, 
Porters and their tents. 
softness of head, not of soundness of heart. 
In the creation of the great game reserve 
through which the Uganda Railway runs 
the British Government has conferred a 
boon upon mankind, and no less in the 
enactment and enforcement of the game 
laws in the African provinces generally. 
Of course experience will show where, from 
time to time, there must be changes. In 
Uganda proper buffaloes and hippos throve 
so under protection as to become sources of 
grave danger not only to the crops but to 
the lives of the natives, and they had to be 
taken off the protected lists and classed as 
vermin, to be shot in any numbers at any 
time; and only the great demand for ivory 
prevented the necessity of following the 
same course with regard to the elephant; 
while recently in British East Africa the 
increase of the zebras, and the harm they 
did to the crops of the settlers, rendered it 
highly creditable to both Government and 
people, has been shown in dealing with and 
preserving East African game while at the 
same time safeguarding the interests of the 
settlers. 
On our train the locomotive was fitted 
with a comfortable seat across the cow¬ 
catcher, and on this, except at meal-time, 
I spent most of the hours of daylight, usu¬ 
ally in company with Selous, and often with 
Governor Jackson, to whom the territory 
and the game were alike familiar. The 
first afternoon we did not see many wild 
animals, but birds abounded, and the scen¬ 
ery was both beautiful and interesting. A 
black-and-white hornbill, feeding on the 
track, rose so late that we nearly caught it 
with our hands; guinea-fowl and franco- 
lin, and occasionally bustard, rose near by; 
brilliant rollers, sun-birds, bee-eaters, and 
weaver-birds flew beside us, or sat unmoved 
