21 NOVEMBER 1903, Page 12

SPORT ON THE BLUE NILE.

Sport on the Blue Nile. By Isaac Charles Johnson. (Banks and Son. is. 6d.)—Mr. Johnson's story of his sporting adventures does not differ materially from other books of the kind. It has the merit of simplicity and directness. He does not take advan- tage of his having killed a rare antelope to give us a disquisition on the superiority of Islam to Christianity. Be is content to tell us what he killed and how he lined it—he is legitimately proud of having bagged a record specimen of one kind of animal—how he got on with his guides, and generally how he fared. The new element in his narrative concerns the recent regulations of the reserves and the shooting generally, A sportsman has to pay 425 for a general license and a fee for every animal killed under it. Ile may kill two elephants at 48 for a male and 412 for a female ; two buffaloes at 46 each ; one hippopotamus at £1 (this seems cheap) ; two ostriches at 42 each ; and 41 for each antelope, the number allowed varying from six to two. There is obviously some room for differences of opinion here, especially about the antelopes. And the boundaries of the reserves become subjects of dispute, as boundaries so commonly are. Mr. Johnson thinks he was badly treated by the Government : we have no opinion on the case which he states for himself. It is plain, however, that the regulations', necessary as they are, are not likely to work smoothly.