In tribes where government is weak, there is a difficulty in enforcing
laws, as the penalty exacted may be resisted; but even amidst those wild
tribes there is a force that exerts a certain moral influence among the
savage as among the civilized: that force is public opinion.
Thus, a breach of the game-laws would be regarded by the public as a
disgrace to the guilty individual, precisely as an act of poaching would
damage the character of a civilized person.
The rights of game are among the first rudiments of property. Man in a
primitive state is a hunter, depending for his clothing upon the skins
of wild animals, and upon their flesh for his subsistence; therefore the
beast that he kills upon the desert must be his property; and in a
public hunt, should he be the first to wound a wild animal, he will have
gained an increased interest or share in the flesh by having reduced the
chance of its escape. Thus public opinion, which we must regard as the
foundation of EQUITY, rewards him with a distinct and special right,
which, becomes LAW.
It is impossible to trace the origin of game-laws in Central Africa, but
it is nevertheless interesting to find that such rights are generally
acknowledged, and that large tracts of uninhabited country are possessed
by individuals which are simply manorial. These rights are inherited,
descending from father to the eldest son.
When the grass is sufficiently dry to burn, the whole thoughts of the
community are centred upon sport; but should a person set fire to the
grass belonging to another proprietor, he would be at once condemned by
public opinion, and he would (if such establishments existed) be
certainly expelled from his club.
There was no more work undone in my charming Fatiko station. The roads
from the three gates were so far completed as to form respectable
approaches. The gardens had produced abundantly, and the troops were all
in excellent health and good discipline. On Mondays and Fridays they
were exercised at light-infantry drill for several hours. Every man had
his post, which he occupied like lightning when the bugle suddenly
sounded the alarm. The "Forty Thieves" held the rock citadel, as they
could fire over the heads of those in the camp without fear of accident.
The night alarm sounded unexpectedly, and as I went the rounds, every
man was at his quarters without a whisper. The cleanliness and general
order of the camp were perfect.
I now associated with the natives as a hunter. It was in this capacity
that I had first won their hearts many years ago. We were so short of
meat that I began to feel the necessity that first turned the hand of
savage man against the beasts of the forest.
