218 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Feb. ii, I 9 11 - 
Mr. Rainey Goes to Africa. 
Paul J. Rainey, best known for his trip to 
the Arctic, and his gifts to the New York Zoo¬ 
logical Society, sailed last week on a hunting 
expedition which is announced to cover parts 
of East Africa, India, Borneo and the Ma ay 
Archipelago. It is stated that Mr. Rainey will 
represent the New York Zoological Society, oi 
which he is a member, and the Smithsonian In¬ 
stitution of Washington, in his hunting. He 
will endeavor to capture living animals for the 
Zoological Society. He takes with him an ela¬ 
borate camera outfit, and hopes to bring back 
moving pictures of many interesting things. 
Those who have seen his pictures of the Arctic 
speak of them with great enthusiasm. 
Mr. Rainey will be accompanied by Dr. M. 
E. Johnston, a physician and a botanist, who 
will make collections of the flora of the coun¬ 
tries visited. He takes with him a pack of dogs 
to be used in hunting, and the trainer in charge of 
them, Edward Shelley, sailed with the dogs some 
time ago. 
It is announced that the safari will start ou 
from Nairobi, and that Mr. Rainey will stop at 
Hugh Heatley’s ranch. Mr. Heatley is the man 
who spent some time in New York a few months 
ago trying to get up an African hunting club. 
From Nairobi Mr. Rainey says that he will go 
north past the base of Mt. Kema to Lake 
Rudolph and from there return to Nairobi. 
After that he expects to go to Bombay, India, 
to the Malay Archipelago and to the South Seas. 
He hopes to bring back alive many interesting 
animals and pictures. 
Mr Rainey is quoted as saying that he ex¬ 
pects all the white men will be stricken with 
fever on the Masai Reserve, but about this he 
is probably needlessly alarmed. Men taking 
proper precautions have hunted there for 
months, without being threatened by the fever 
or even obliged to take quinine. 
He is also quoted as saying that the rains 
are over by July. This hardly accords with 
recent experience, for in July, August and early 
September rains are likely to continue, though 
the rain scarcely begins before H o’clock in the 
day and stops toward the end of the afternoon, 
so that it is often possible to make a short hunt 
before dark. Mr. Rainey hopes to see the 
Masai warriors kill lions with their spears, and 
is quoted as saying that several of the warriors 
are killed in each hunt. This is probably a 
misquotation. It is recalled that in the hunt 
reported by Colonel Roosevelt, none of the 
Nandi warriors who took part in the hunt were 
killed. It is understood also that Carl Akeley 
had a lion hunt, which lasted nearly a month, 
and yielded we believe fourteen lions. We have 
not heard that any of the Nandi were killed 
in these hunts. 
Before Colonel Roosevelt saw the hunt made 
by the Nandi, Mr. Hoey had the warriors out 
for a day, so that they might understand the 
signals and become accustomed to the country. 
On that day a lion and a lioness were put up. 
In one of these cases—probably that of the 
lioness—only one man was near her when she 
broke cover, but he attacked her, killed her with 
his spear and then—an eye witness has said— 
“sat down on a rock in a bored way and took 
snuff.” The risk of injury is greatly lessened 
when a number of men are out, yet one or two 
warriors do not hesitate to attack a lion. With 
a leopard it is quite different. It is smaller, 
much more active and quick, and the warriors 
prefer to have at least a dozen men along when 
they have a leopard at bay. 
A friend recently returned from Africa, speak¬ 
ing of this sport, says: “It is a very fine sight 
to see them. I was present at a drive once 
where a lot of Nandi went into a river bed after 
a lioness and two cubs. The tangle of scrub, 
vines and long matted grass was so dense that 
one could see practically nothing, and I would 
not have crept in there even if I had been wear¬ 
ing a suit of armor. Yet the Nandi plunged 
in. throwing away their shields and spears when 
they could not force their weapons through the 
bush, shouting and yelling, the ones behind 
dragging back those in front in their eager¬ 
ness to get ahead. We sat with our horses 
headed toward the plain—and looked back over 
our shoulders—so as to be ready to gallop off 
if she burst out, and charged the horses, as a 
lion or lioness generally will do. Fortunately, 
the noise and yells frightened the lioness and 
she slunk off without showing fight. 
“It is rather a curious fact, and one which I do 
not think has been commented on, that when 
a lion that has been hunted on horseback and 
turning to bay charges, it will frequently charge 
the horses and not the hunter. It will almost 
always charge a white horse if there be one, 
rather than a dark-colored horse.” 
Ptarmigan in Newfoundland. 
St. Johns, N. F., Feb. 1 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: Partridges (ptarmigan) were never 
more plentiful than they were last season. The 
weather during the fall was very mild, so that 
large quantities of birds that were shipped to 
local grocers became heated and had to be de¬ 
stroyed. They sold generally for fifty cents a 
brace, but numbers were sold much cheaper in 
order to clear them off. I inclose a clipping from 
a paper which I cut out last month that may 
interest readers who take pleasure in small game 
shooting: 
“C. Murphy, of Baine Johnston’s, who is a very 
truthful man, and who arrived from Branch 
recently, says that partridge are being killed with 
sticks up there in large numbers. They are ab¬ 
normally tame and are being packed in boxes 
after killing for the St. Johns market.” 
“Mark Leatnon, at Petty Harbor, went out gun¬ 
ning recently at Petty Harbor and shot 272 sea 
birds.” 
Crows have of late years increased in great 
numbers in the country around St. Johns. They 
are scavengers generally feeding on offal found 
among ashes which the farmers get from the 
sanitary department for making compost. But 
according to some observers the crows have 
started a “new industry” and have decided to 
add to their ordinary menu the juicy English 
sparrow that infest the city in large and increas¬ 
ing flocks. The following cutting explains: 
“Crows are present in large flocks in the 
suburbs of the city just now, especially in Buck- 
master’s field. They swoop down on the English 
sparrows on LeMarchant Road, and taking them 
up in their talons fly out of danger into the field 
and devour them. The same thing was wit¬ 
nessed at King’s Bridge Road recently.” 
W. J. Carroll. 
To Encourage the Protectors. 
In his annual report as Chief Game Protec¬ 
tor, John B. Burnham, now Deputy Commis¬ 
sioner of Forest, Fish and Game of New York 
State, outlines a plan, having in view the re¬ 
warding of protectors for efficiency. 
In the past six years, he says, the number 
of cases handled by the protectors has increased 
400 per cent, and the division system of itself 
has greatly increased the work of the execu¬ 
tive heads. The Division Chief, under the 
present system, receives weekly reports from 
his men and is in constant communication with 
them, directing them in their work and advis¬ 
ing them in the conduct of their cases, much 
of his time being spent in traveling over his 
division. While the position of Assistant Chief, 
under the old conditions, was something of a 
sinecure, under present conditions there are no 
harder worked men on the force than the 
Division Chiefs; therefore, I believe they should 
receive the same pay as the Fire Superinten¬ 
dents, viz., $1,500 per annum. For the purpose 
of increasing the efficiency of the game protec¬ 
tors, each protector should have some financial 
incentive to spur him on to his best efforts. His 
work is hard and sometimes dangerous. The 
plan followed in some police departments of in¬ 
creased pay for continued service might be 
adopted with advantage. Each protector should 
understand that if he did not attain a certain 
percentage based upon cases and faithful ser¬ 
vice, he would be dropped from the force. On 
the other hand, he should be paid an increased 
salary after a certain period of service, and 
after twenty years he should be retired on half 
pay, just as is done in the New York police 
force. Protectors are now paid $900 salary per 
annum. I think that after two years’ service 
they should receive $1,000, and have a raise of 
$100 every other year thereafter until their pay 
is $1,200. Any year of this period that a pro¬ 
tector failed to make a fixed percentage, even 
though he qualified to remain on the force, 
should be disregarded as time counting for in¬ 
creased salary. Under this system, for at least 
six years and probably for a longer time, the 
protector would be nerved to additional effort 
by the incentive of an increase in his salary. 
Beyond that period the incentive would come 
from the prospect of a pension after twenty 
years, which he could not gain provided he did 
not give good service. 
The bane of all State work is half-hearted 
service. A State employe is apt to degenerate 
into a mere placeholder. A political job is a 
poor one at best; its tenure is uncertain and 
chances of promotion are limited. The first step 
in making an effective game protective depart¬ 
ment is to take it as far as possible out of 
politics, and this has been achieved in this State 
by putting the protectors under competitive civil 
service. The second step should be to create an 
incentive which would warrant a good return 
for well directed effort, and counteract the 
lethargic effect that is apt to overtake even the 
best man who holds a reasonably sure State job. 
A wise chief protector provided with a system 
of rewards such as above outlined could accom¬ 
plish wonderful results with his men. The only 
thing required then would be some way of 
positively insuring good men in their tenure in 
office. 
