Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1912-02-14

w RITING of his experiences
wv during six months trip
through South and East At
RIGA undertaken for eXplora-
ton and hunting purposes.
Sir Henry Seton-Kar. in Country Life.
says:
After two months stay in the
Mozambique district of Portuguese
East Africa, where had a two hun
dred. miles trek, with native carriers,
through some little-known country, a
Union Castle liner took me up the
coast past Zanzibar to the fine harbor
of Mombasa. or rather Ki|lndini
(Mombasa being the TOWN., which is
the port of debarkation for the Ugan-
da railway and the doorway to the
highlands of British East Africa. My
immediate object In visiting the new
est colony was -game-hunting. So
left Mombasa by the first available
train, and in twenty-four hours had
assembled six thousand feet, through
palm grove, tropical jungle, thorn and
,grass-ccvered plain and mountain
ranges to the high tableland whose
altitude makes British East Africa
possible as white mans colony and
another cradle for our race. or this
tableland Nairobi is the capital, and
the social, commercial and political
center. Never have l seen anything
like the quantity of big-game in any
part of the world such as now exist
RIGA. Even western America thirty
years ago had nothing like this
wealth of wild fauna. l rather doubt
II South Africa. in its pioneer days,
equalled it In this respect. For soma
hours before reaching Na1robi thou
sands OF zebra, hartebeeste (kon-
goni). gazelle 9. various kinds
("Grant's" and '"Ton:nies") can be
seen from the railway carriage win
dows dotting the plains and grass-cov-
cred, tree-sprinkled hillsides through
which the railway runs. Herds OF
wildebeeste are almost always in
sight; also other varieties of buck or
antelope. such as impala and oribi:
likewise an occasional rhino, and fire.
Quently herd OF giraffe. ! saw all
these varieties from the train. A large
portion of the country south of the
railway to the German border Is MAN.
tanned as game reserve, as we'll as
the southern Nasal native reserve,
and so abounds in game.
One has heard so much of hunting
parties visiting Nairobi of late years,
and returning in every case laden
with spells and trophies OF the chase.
that had sort of feeling, before
hand, that the game would soon be all
killed unless one hurried up and went
soon. But now the mystery was
solved. The country is so fertile. pas
toral and extensive, and the climate
so equable, that 1t is capable of main.
tanning an almost incredible amount
OF game, In addition to a great native
population and white settlers pop.
ulation. The game are there. and
have not been recklessly slaughtered
and sQuandered in the past. They are
now only shot in sportsmanl1ke
manner, under strict regulation as to
numbers and locality-some rarcr
kinds being absolutely protected-and
only on payment OF substantial IL
cense fee; and the consequence is
that, II anything, the game is 1ncreas'
Ing In numbers, not diminishing. In
fact, the boot Is on the other leg. The
question Is whether, in some dis
tricts, the commoner kinds OF game
are not too numerous, and should not
in the interest OF settlers and their
fencing and crops, be greatly reduced
in numbers, or even altogether killed
OF. SO far as my own hunting ex
periences are concerned. l enjoyed q
most delightful and productive three
weeks safari, during the course Of
which I shot about forty head OF biz
game either for meat or for trophies
including eighteen different varieties
among them great python sixteen
feet long. am bound to confess, III
my view. that there Is no great sport
ing merit in obtaining the ordinary
common big-game trophies of Eas,
Africa, such as wildebeeste, harte
beeste, the various kinds OF gazell<
and smaller antelope, zebra and wart
hog, all of which are to be found on
the open plains and outside long grass
and jungle. 1t is merely question
of how long one stays out and how
many cartridges one uses. There are
however, other varieties OF big-game
much harder to find and shoot, and IL
the hunting of which some woodcraf,
and intelligence. as we'll as straigh,
shooting, are required. Lastly, there
are the larger and dangerous kinds OF
game, the hunting of which will al
ways be stimulating and exciting
form OF sport.
In the first of these two latter cate
gories l would place the roam ant
lope, the bushbuck. the koodoo ant
sable (these two latter are not fount
on the higher tableland Of British
East Africa. but only In the bush coun
try nearer the coast), and. perhaps
the water-buck and the Gland; also
OF course. the bongo. gigantic spe
cies of bushbuck, only found In tn
thfckest Jungle. Only one or tWt
lucky and Aasdworhug sportsmen Il