The Empire of Nature: Hunting, Conservation and British Imperialism

351 Pages·1988·14.548 MB·English

by  John M. MacKenzie

General editor John M. MacKenzie
When the ‘Studies in Imperialism’ series was founded by Professor John M.
MacKenzie more than thirty years ago, emphasis was laid upon the conviction
that ‘imperialism as a cultural phenomenon had as significant an effect on the
dominant as on the subordinate societies’. With well over a hundred titles now
published, this remains the prime concern of the series. Cross-disciplinary
work has indeed appeared covering the full spectrum of cultural phenomena,
as well as examining aspects of gender and sex, frontiers and law, science and
the environment, language and literature, migration and patriotic societies,
and much else. Moreover, the series has always wished to present comparative
work on European and American imperialism, and particularly welcomes the
submission of books in these areas. The fascination with imperialism, in all its
aspects, shows no sign of abating, and this series will continue to lead the way
in encouraging the widest possible range of studies in the field. Studies in
Imperialism is fully organic in its development, always seeking to be at the
cutting edge, responding to the latest interests of scholars and the needs of this
ever-expanding area of scholarship.
Mount Kenya from the south
From J. G. Millais, Life of Frederick Courtenay Selous, D.S.O., London, 1919

The Empire
of Nature
Hunting, Conservation
and British Imperialism
John M. MacKenzie
Copyright © John M. MacKenzie 1988
The right of John M. MacKenzie to be identified as the author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
Published by Manchester University Press
Altrincham Street, Manchester Ml 7JA, UK
www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress

ISBN 13: 978 0 7190 5227 9

First published 1988 by Manchester University Press
Reprinted in paperback 1997
First digital paperback edition published 2008

The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for any
external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee
that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
CONTENTS

List of illustrations — page viii
General introduction — ix
Abbreviations — x
Preface — 1

1 Hunting: themes and variations 6
2 The nineteenth-century hunting world 25
3 Hunting and African societies 54
4 Hunting and settlement in southern Africa 85
5 Game and imperial rule in Central Africa 120
6 Exploration, conquest and game in East Africa 147
7 The imperial hunt in India 167
8 From preservation to conservation: legislation
and the international dimension 200
9 Reserves and the tsetse controversy 225
10 National parks in Africa and Asia 261
11 Shikar and safari: hunting and conservation in the
British Empire 295
Appendices
I The game legislation of the African colonies and India 312
II A colonial game law: Northern Rhodesia, 1925 313
III The membership of the Society for the Preservation
of the (Wild) Fauna of the Empire 321
IV Game and the independent African State: the Arusha Manifesto, 1961 324
Bibliography — 326
Index — 335

[ vii ]
ILLUSTRATIONS

The Prince of Wales (the future George V) with the Maharaja Scindia of
Gwalior, a tiger and leopards, 1905
By courtesy of the Royal Commonwealth Society page 6
F. C. Selous as a young man, in hunting costume
From J. G. Millais, Life of Frederick Courtenay Selous, D.S.O., Capt. 25th
Royal Fusiliers (London, 1912) 25
A ‘mampula’ or mambure hunt: Shona catching game in the Lomagundi
district of Zimbabwe, 1870
Pencil sketch by Thomas Baines. By courtesy of the British Museum of
Natural History 54
The plains of the Orange Free State in 1871
From Millais, Selous 85
On the Mashona Plateau
From Millais, Selous 120
Governor Sir Hesketh Bell with hunting trophies in Uganda, 1908
By courtesy of the Royal Commonwealth Society 147
A tiger shoot in India, with the Prince of Wales, 1905
By courtesy of the Royal Commonwealth Society 167
Uganda Railway poster
From Leo Weinthal, The Story of the Cape to Cairo Railway and River
Route from 1887–1922 (London, 1923) 200
Some of Colonel Harrison’s collection at the Kendal Museum
By courtesy of Willie Milne and Kendal Museum 225
The East Africa Protectorate, showing game reserves
From J. Stevenson-Hamilton, Animal Life in Africa (London, 1912) 228
South African national parks
From J. Stevenson-Hamilton, Our South African National Parks (1940)
261
Africa, showing game reserves situated in British territory
From Stevenson-Hamilton, Animal Life 263
Game reserves in Tanganyika, 1947
After The Tanganyika Guide, second edition (Dar es Salaam, 1948) 268
The Duke and Duchess of York (the future George VI and Queen
Elizabeth) on honeymoon in East Africa, 1925
By courtesy of the Royal Commonwealth Society 295

[ viii ]
GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Imperialism was more than a set of economic, political and military
phenomena. It was a habit of mind, a dominant idea in the era of
European world supremacy which had widespread intellectual, cultural
and technical expressions. The series is designed to explore, primarily
but not exclusively, these relatively neglected areas. Volumes are
planned on the scientific aspects of imperialism, on education, disease,
the theatre, literature, art, design and many more. But in redressing the
balance in favour of these multi-disciplinary and cross-cultural studies
it is not intended that the economic, political and military dimensions
should be ignored. There will be books in these fields too and the
series will seek to examine colonial and imperial developments in a
variety of periods and in diverse geographical contexts. It is hoped that
individually and collectively these works will illumine one of the most
potent characteristics of modern world history.
Changing approaches to hunting constitute an important theme in
human history. The pursuit and killing of animals has invariably
developed ideological overtones and both literature and the pictorial
arts have tended to stress the mythic, courtly and martial rather than
the purely practical aspects of the chase. Many European hunters in
the nineteenth century were aware of this rich tradition and turned
hunting into a symbolic activity of global dominance. Thus hunting
became part of the culture of imperialism. It was closely connected
with the study of natural history, a central area of scientific debate in
the period. It performed important economic and social functions. It
was subject to complex legislation and was much influenced by
technical developments in firearms. As Europeans restricted access to
the animal kingdom to themselves they developed notions of
conservation which had a powerful effect on the landscape of imperial
territories. This book uses hunting as one focus for the complex
interaction of Europeans with Africans and Indians. It seeks to
illuminate the nature of imperial power when exercised in the
relationship between humans and the natural world.
J.M.M.

[ ix ]