The South African deer is a hardy animal and can live where the
American deer cannot, and the idea in importing him is to prevent
big game in this country from passing away. They have asked
Congress to set aside for these animals a portion of the forest
reserve. Already Congress has voted toward the plan $15,000, and
President Roosevelt is one of its most enthusiastic supporters.
We cannot leave Burnham in better hands than those of Hammond
and Gardner Williams. Than these three men the United States has
not sent to British Africa any Americans of whom she has better
reason to be proud. Such men abroad do for those at home untold
good. They are the real ambassadors of their country.
The last I learned of Burnham is told in the snapshot of him which
accompanies this article, and which shows him, barefoot, in the
Yaqui River, where he has gone, perhaps, to conceal his trail from
the Indians. It came a month ago in a letter which said briefly that
when the picture was snapped the expedition was "trying to cool
off." There his narrative ended. Promising as it does adventures
still to come, it seems a good place in which to leave him.
Meanwhile, you may think of Mrs. Burnham after a year in
Mexico keeping the house open for her husband's return to
Pasadena, and of their first son, Roderick, studying woodcraft with
his father, forestry with Gifford Pinchot, and playing right guard
on the freshman team at the University of California.
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