PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
TLC.O. 885
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
20 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
9-1
18. Captain Warwick asks "Is it politic to make a game reserve anywhere near the railway?" I should imagine that such a question would be the first to be asked in the most elementary examination in administrative subjects. Does he imagine that he has detected a flaw which has been overlooked by previous Adminis- trations? When a sane man is seen performing an apparently insane action it is generally wise to investigate the matter more closely before asking questions which render the inquirer liable to a snub. Captain Warwick is apparently unaware of the fact that the Southern Game Reserve-bounded by the railway-is almost without water during half the year, and that for thousands of square miles the surface of the ground is thickly covered with stones and boulders, while upon every bent of grass from 1 to 50 ticks sit ready to attach themselves to the first passing animal.
The Masai tribe are bound to be provided for somewhere, and this area was reserved for them as it was very unsuitable for settlement. It may be asked how it
that the Masai can live there if the settlers cannot.
The explanation is a simple one. The Masai are essentially" nomads," and wander over large areas, following the pasturage and water as do all desert tribes, and they are thus able to exist under conditions which would be fatal to the European settler who establishes himself on a fixed site. Later, when it became known that' the Masai do not kill and eat game, this area was wisely formed into a game reserve, and it is now the most successful and valuable reserve in Africa,
19. The question of the export of game hides for sale has been the subject of the most careful consideration by many experienced sportsmen, naturalists, and administrators, and it has been unanimously decided that such a measure would be equivalent to signing the death warrant of the game. (Vide the Colonial Office Blue Book (Cd. 4472], "Preservation of Wild Animals in Africa," 1910, page 19.)
The prices of skins quoted are approximately correct, but it must be remembered that these are the prices of tanned skins, and not of the raw article, the prices of which are very much lower.
It is not correct to include zebra skins in this classification. The skin of the zebra is poor and of inferior quality, producing a hard, brittle leather for which there is little demand. It is absolutely wrong to say that boys do not care for the meat of hartebeest and zebra, as they are the two animals which form the main meat supply of porters. Captain Warwick is probably thinking of the Kikuyu, who are, for the most part, vegetarians, and will rarely eat any meat except that of cattle and sheep, possibly in imitation of the Masai, who observe the same custom.
Captain Warwick's proposal that the Government should purchase game hides from visiting sportsmen and export them is, to say the least, a crude and unpractical / scheme. It would be interesting to know who is to pay the porters needed to carry these hides from the Northern Guaso Nyiro River, Mount Elgon, or the Loita Plains to the nearest point of the railway. Captain Warwick says: Let Govern- ment pay a small price per hide, then shooters will take a little trouble, &c. Does he imagine that the sportsmen who come to shoot in British East Africa and spend from £500 to £10,000 on their expeditions are going to take the trouble to bring back all the skins for the sake of selling them to Government for a few shillings, or because it is the wish of the Government that they should do so? And if the matter was made compulsory under the Game Ordinance, and if sportsmen were fined for neglecting to bring in skins-this I take to be Captain Warwick's idea when he says: "They can check a shortage of hides produced when checking heads and horns to be exported "-would not that be the very way to make the conditions intoler- able to the sportsman and keep him away from the country, which Captain Warwick earlier in his letter warns us to be so careful about?
The real question of importance is not how to deal with the skins shot by sports- me-a comparatively negligible quantity-but with the skins and flesh of game which settlers wish to exterminate in certain districts. Captain Warwick does not give us any assistance with this problem. If free permission were given to export hides and flesh of game killed on private land it would lead almost at once to the extermination of all the game in the settled areas, and would give enormous encouragement to poaching on Crown land, which it would be impossible to deal with except by an enormous staff of game rangers, whose expenses would practically cancel any profit made from the hides, even if Government sold and exported them after buying from the settlers. Captain Warwick says: "My idea being for Govern- ment to read the benefit from such hides, and not to permit shooters selling for them- selves. This suggestion when analysed amounts to a proposal that Government should indulge in trading operations under a monopoly, which is a proceeding
95
entirely opposed to British ideas of government. A great deal of ill-feeling has already been aroused by the ivory regulations, and if a Government monopoly in game hides was added to these, it would create a perfect furore.
20. In the penultimate paragraph of his letter Captain Warwick says: "My sole object in writing the above is to preserve as long as possible the asset of game licences to the country." As a matter of fact his proposals are a direct incentive to the slaughter of
"Local officials may disagree In his last paragraph he says: game. with these statements, but I respectfully point out that East Africa is for the settlers of a future generation, and not for a big game reserve."
It is rather difficult to understand exactly what Captain Warwick's policy is. 21. In conclusion I should like to reiterate-
(1) That the Government are fully aware of the necessity of preserving the game in British East Africa in suitable localities, while at the same time giving due consideration to the interests of the settlers.
(2) That the Government are thoroughly conversant with all the problems connected with the preservation of game in this Protectorate, the neces- sary supervision of shooting parties, and the management of game
reserves.
(3) That there is not the slightest fear that there will be a dearth of sports- men on account of the "boys being impossible," or for any other reason, such as the preference shown by sportsmen to shoot in Portuguese East Africa.
So long as there is plenty of game to shoot-and there will be no lack for many years to come-there will always be found "sportsmen,' of whom the term can be used in its highest sense, ready and delighted to brave the terrors and discomforts of the native labour question.
R. B. WOOSNAM,
Game Warden.
SCALE OF ALLOWANCES TO OFFICERS OF THE EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE FOR LOCAL TRAVELLING BY ROAD AND Water.
Rank.
1. Judges of the High Court, Official Members of the Executive and Legislative Councils, Provincial Commissioners, Officers Command- ing Battalions King's African Rifles, Inspector General of Police, and Heads of Departments.
II. Other European Officers on 1st class
appointments.
III. All other European Officers on 2nd
class appointments.
IV. Non-European Officers on salaries the maximum of which is not less than Rs. 200 per meпsom..
V. Non-European Officers on salaries the maximum of which is not less than Rs. 80 per mensem and clerks whose salaries are not less than Rs. 50 per
mensem.
VI. Non-European Officers on salaries the maximum of which is less than Rs. 80 per mensem save as specified in VII and VIII.
First appointment, leave, and
transfer.
On Tour,
Swahili er Wan- yamwezi porters.
Other porters not capable of carry.
ing full loads.
By wheeled trans-
port.
Headmen.
Swahili or Wan-
yamwezi porters.
Other portere not
capable of carry-
ing full loada.
By whealed trans-
port.
Headmen.
37
22
lbs.
53 2,220
1 18 26
22
lbs.
1,080
1
31
48
1
24
20
2,040
34 1,440 1 14 20 840
28 1,200 1 10 14 600
15 21 900
1
1
1
12
16
720
1
8 10
480
1
8
12
480
1
6
7
360
1
L
231
Rank.
96
First appointment, leave, and
transfer.
On Tour.
Swahili or Wan
yamwezi porters,
Other porters not
capable of carry-
ing full loads.
~
By wheeled trans.
Fort.
Headmen.
Swahili or Wan yamwezi portere.
Other porters not capable of carry- ing full loads.
By wheelul trans-
port
Hendmen.
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