Woodhouse, C. W.

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GAME AND WAR 71
3. Tbe numberof scalesin a line runningfrom the com-
mencementof the dorsalfin or the middleof the
backto the lateralline downto the vent or ventral
finor themiddleof theabdomen.
For instance,the fQllowingformulawould representthe
scalesbetweenthe headand caudalfin: L. Lat. 40; whilst
the formulaL. Transutwould representthoseeightlongi-
tudinalseriesof Bcalesabovethelateral line and five below
thosesame.
I hopeto be ablein my next articleto givea fewhints
withregardto tackle,bait,nativemethodsof dressingline,&c.
GAME AND WAR
By C. W. WOODHOUSE
Thisarticleonlyproposesto dealroughlywithobservations
madein peacetime and thosenoticedduringthe first year
of the war in British East Africa,with regardto thevarious
gameanimalsnormallypresenton the seeneof the present
hostilitiesin theMombasamilitaryarea,i.e. fromthe Kitirua
and Engumi waterholes,i.e. Lake Njiri (Ologinya)District,
SouthernMasaiReserve,to MountRukinganearKasigau.
The Taru desertis apparentlyunaffected.On making
a briefsurveyof the terrain,the countryis foundto consist
of severalwell-markedtypeswhichmaybe classifiedas:
1. The open grass lands, i.-e.the Masai country from
Lake Njiri to the Romboriver and from the Anglo-German
borderto thelavabedsat thefootof theChyuluHills. Very
similarcountry,thoughwith rathermorebush,is to befound
from CampiYa Bibi, five mileswestof Maktau,to nearthe
Lanjoro drift.
By thedefinition•opengrasslands' it mustnot betaken
to meanabsolutelybarerollingplainslike the Nairobi,Athi,
andKapiti plains,but, with theexceptionof theKuku plain,
opengrasslandmustberegardedas parklikecountrycapable
12 GAME AND WAR
of grazingcattleand with occasionalpatchesof scrub. The
wholeof the grassland is interspersedwith solitarythoro
trees.
The country seenfrom the Uganda railway near Ki~
a.pproximatesto this sketchof country.
2. The' bush country,'i.e. the countryalongthe Tsavo
river as far west as Mzima,and then on its right bankup
to the Ziwaniswamp. The countryfrom Voi westwardsto
Campi Ya Bibi and from the Tsavo river to Rukinga and
from the Ugandarailway to the Chyulu Hills. This also
includesthe bushfrom SalaitaHill to Lake Jipe at present
temporarilyoccupiedby the enemy.
The moreimportantgameoccupyingtheseareasare as
follows:
Elephant
Rhinoceros
Buffalo
Hippopotamus
Lion
Leopard
Eland
GreaterandLesserKudu
Gerenuk
Coke'sHartebeeste
Wildebeeste
Impalla
Zebra
Grant'sGazelle(Serengettiand
Typica)
Thomson'sGazelle
Giraffe
Ostrich
Naturally when large bodiesof men are encampedand
are constantlymovingabout in areaswhich beforethe war
were practicallydeserted,when theselarge bodiesof men
haveat certaintimesto rely on gamefor food,whencertain
animals,such as rhinoceros,have to be destroyedon their
endangeringtroopson patrol,andwhenat irregularintervals
heavyrifle andmaximfiretakesplace,thelocalfaunabecomes
disturbed,and eitherchangesits feeding-groundsor becomes
destroyed. This is most noticeablein severalanimals,viz.
elephant,rhinoceros,buffalo,andlion.
Takingtheseanimalsseparately:
Elephant.-'Thenormalmigrationof the elephantappears
to keepto the followinggenerallines: At the start of the
long rains the elephantsleavethe Kilimanjaro forestsand
movedowninto the plains,oneparty comingvia Lake Jipe,
GAME AND WAR 73
'14 GAME AND WAR
from whencethe herd divides,part moving direct to the
Upper Tsavo, othersmovingover to the Lower BUIa and
Mwatate rivers, perhaps en route visiting Kasigau. The
others,passingLaitokitok through the L'Endim Lo Soit
(Stony Forest), come down into the Tsavo river between
Kivukuni and Mzima, and work down towardsCampi Ya
Tembo. Theseelephantsfeedin the thorn scrubnorth and
southof the river, crossingdown to the Tsavo at night to
drink. In this scrubthey are eitherjoined or followedby
theBura-Mwatateherds.
The elephantsthenpassnorth via the Chambuispringto
the Mtito Andei river, thencecrossingthe Ugandarailway
and proceedingto the Athi river perhapsas far as the Tiva
Ilver.
The herdsthenmovesouth-westalongthesestreamsand
visit the hill Rovuma in the Girvama country;and some
membersof the herdsraid theMalindi plantations.
Few, if any,of theseelephantsin thewar zonehavebeen
shoteitherby British or Germans,but thepresenceof troops
hasdisturbedthemconsiderably.
In 1914 the annualmigration took place,but in 1915
only a few scatteredsmall herdscameover and alongthe
Tsavo,and exceptfor two or threesmallherdsin the lower
reaches,elephantshave beenconspicuousby their absence.
Theseelephantsonlycometo the river to drink,andspeedily
make off. (NoTE.-It must be noted that the elephants
north of the Ugandarailway may be recruitedfrom the
WakambaDistrict elephantherds.)
Rhinoceros.-A large number of rhinoceroshave been
shot, especiallyby the enemy. Regular rhinocerosparties
usedto go out from Taveta and Salaita to kill rhinoceros
with, it appears,the doubleobject of providingmeat for
Africantroopsandsportfor the Germanofficers.
Thus the largenumberof rhinoceroswhich usedto exist
in the Upper Rombo, ZiwaniSwamp,the bushfringingthe
Taveta Forest, Lake Jipe, on Latema, Reata, the Mokinni
Hills, and in the Kitovo Forestmay be takento be nearly
extinct.
On the British side a fair numberhavebeenshot when
GAME AND WAR 75
chargingpatrolsand bodiesof troops,and doubtlessmany
morehaveescapedafter beingwounded. The largenumber
of rhinoceroswhic.husedto live in the bushnorthand south
of the Tsavoriver have beenmuch reduced,but probably
numbersof thesehavemoveddownto the Athi river.
As an instance,the writer countedfifty-four different
fresh tracks betweenTsavo station and the mouth of the
Romboin 1913,andon an earlypatrol (August1914)during
the war, saw eighteenin threehours from Kivukoni while
travellingdue south,but at thepresentmomentonly an odd
rhino is to beseenor heard. Many still exist,but they are
muchreducedin numbers.
The rhinocerosare muchreducedor havemigratedto a
largeextenton the SerengettiPlains,especiallynearMakta.u.
Buflalo.-Thelargeherdsof buffaloalongtheTsavoriver,
especiallythoseon the north bank,appearto have moved
backinto the ChyuluandNbuliaHills.
Lion.-Few lionswereapparenton the Serengetti(1914-
1915),andthey appearto havepracticallyleft thosepartsof
the Tsavoriver whereformerlythey werecommon. As far
as can be ascertained,veryfewlions have beenshotin the
Mombasaareaby our troops.
Girafle.-A fair numberhavebeenshotfor food;but they
will certainlyquicklyrecuperateafterhostilities.
Eland.-Thewriter is of the opinionthat the numerous
wild doghavecausedfar moredamageto the elandthan the
fewshotby themilitary. Thewild dognuisancealsoapplies
to othergame.
Hippopotamus.-Acertainnumberof hippopotamushave
beenkilledin theMzimariver,but thesewill laterbespeedily
replacedfromtheAthi. TheMzimariver is a notedbreeding-
groundfor hippopotamus,but the majority of hippo there
aremigratory.
GreaterandLesserKudu.-Far moreGreaterKudu have
beenshownto exist than was previouslyimaginedin the
Mombasa.area.
They are fairly generallydistributedover a. large area,
but areveryshyandsemi-nocturnal.
Of theremaininggameanimals,the gerenukaboutCampi
76 COLLECTION OF OPHIDIA IN MUSEUM
Ya. Bibi and Mbuyuni and alongthe Tsavoriver appealto
havedisappeared(probablymigrated),and the largeherdsof
impallaalongthe Tsavohavenearlyall gone.
On the contrary,the greaterand lesserkudu and the
buffalo near Killakuni have undoubtedlyincreased,many
calveshavingbeenseen.
To sum up, it may be statedthat the war has seriously
disturbedthe gamefrom their usual haunts,but with the
exceptionof the rhinoceros,who, it is feared,will nevel:
recover,the damageis only temporary.
The aboveremarks,be it understood,only apply to the
Mombasaarea,and in no way apply to the areaof country
including01DoinnyoErok, the 01Egeju,L'Ado, or the Bissi
flver.
October1915.
REPORT ON THE COLLECTION OF OPHIDIA IN
THE SOCIETY'S MUSEUM
By A. LOVERIDGE
It has beensuggestedthat it would be well to publish
from time to time in the Journals, lists of the specimensin
the Museum,so that membersand othersmay know what
specieswe are in needof and assistthe Societyto complete
its seriesby filling up the gaps. In futurenumberswe hope
to publishlists of the Mammals,Birds, Lizards, &c.
It is greatlyto be regrettedthat in the presentlist of
snakeslack of spacerendersit impossibleto placethedonor's
nameoppositeeachspecimen,as will be donein futurelists.
The best collectionswhich have beenreceivedare thoseof
Mr. H. J. A. TurnerfromKakumegaDistrict,B.E.A., andthe
Hon. C. W. Hobley'scollectionfrom Kitui District. In the
followinglist only snakesfound in B.E.A. or Ugandaare
listed; thereare a numberof otherspeciesin the collection
fromWestandSouthAfrica,buttheseareomitted. A number
of the specimenshad beensent to the British Museumfor
identificationlast year, and theseI broughtback with me


Game and war

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Game and war

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