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might similarly be explained. No doubt, when the Batawana first occupied the land, there was a general upsetting of all existing conditions, and probably many of the Bushmen changed their hunting grounds. Some of them possibly retired into the more inaccessible parts of the country round and in the marshes, and as a result would suffer more from malaria. In this connection it is interesting,to note that the wife of Masheana was found to be suffering from malaria at the time of my visit.
To my mind, therefore, there is no need to attach any undue importance to this curious fear on the part of the natives in regard to the district of Thquamazuru. It is significant that this fear is not shared by the Bakubwa, who are the original inhabitants of the country.
Natives are proverbially superstitious, and I have come across instances before in which certain places have acquired an evil reputation as a result of some purely accidental occurrence.
Notwithstanding all these explanatory hypotheses must be admitted that the evidence as it stands certainly affords some grounds for the suspicion that sleeping sickness may be endemic in the country--a suspicion which is strengthened by the known presence of a species of glossina.
Taking all the circumstances into consideration, however, I am strongly inclined to doubt it, and in any case the distribution of tsetse is so limited that as regards the greater portion of N'gamiland no anxiety need be felt.
VII. Summary of Conclusions.
1. The southern part of N'gamiland, as far as is known, is free from tsetse fly, and is more or less uninhabited. There is, therefore, no fear of trypanosome disease spreading south through this tract of country.
2. In the northern part of N'gamiland at least one species of Glossina exists, but it is at the present time confined to certain districts which are for the most part uninhabited. The same applies to Glossina palpalis, if it exists, and there is, there- fore, no reason to anticipate the possibility of a widespread epidemic.
3. According to native evidence there is an endemic disease, which has been known for many years, called by them gotsello or sleeping disease.
1.
The symptoms described, and the fact that it occurs in a district where a species of Glossina exists, render it possible that it may be sleeping sickness or some allied trypanosome infection, but the character and nature of the evidence make it extremely unlikely.
VIII. Recommendations.
In view of the importance of the subject I would make the following sugges-
tions:-
(1) A complete census should be taken of the people living in Masheana's village. This should be checked at least every six months, and the headman should be instructed to report any serious cases of illness or deaths, and an inquiry should be made into the circumstances attend- ing them.
(2) The Chief Mutibe should issue orders that any case of the disease occur- ring in the country should be reported immediately to the Magistrate. (3) If in any case the symptoms appear to warrant it, it would be as well if arrangements could be made to send the patient to Mafeking for examination. Failing that, blood smears should be taken, and be forwarded for examination.
(4) A supply of cyanide killing bottles, small hand nets, and specimen glasses should be forwarded to the Acting Magistrate, and the various officers of the Administration should be instructed to collect specimens of all biting flies.
In all cases when sending in flies it should be stated distinctly in what district they were caught. With the co-operation of the traders and natives a fairly complete collection might be made, and the limits of tsetse could then be defined, an important matter both from a point of view of cattle disease as well as that of sleeping sickness.
The above suggestions are of a simple natúre, and involve no special difficulty or expense, and the Acting Magistrate has already undertaken to carry them into effect.
31.
In my opinion, the facts of the case also suggest the advisability of a thorough investigation not only in the district of Thquamazuru, but throughout all the area in and around the marshes where there are people living. This, however, would involve a good deal of time and expense, and, moreover, could only be done under the following conditions:-
In the first place, it would only be practicable at one season of the year, viz., in the early summer months. The summer and winter floods render travelling in that region impossible at those seasons. October to December, for tsetse fly are, I believe, generally more numerous about The best time would probably be from that time, and the swamps would not be so full as they become later on in the rainy
season.
Secondly, arrangements would have to be made for travelling by means of porters, for the presence of " fly" forbids the use of cattle and horses. With porters and the help of canoes the whole country could be thoroughly explored.
IX.
A collection of various biting flies was made. Unfortunately, owing to the short notice I received, and my hurried departure for N'gamiland, I was not able to provide myself with a proper outfit of collecting materials. The flies sent may, how- ever, serve for identification purposes, though they may be useless as specimens, and I should suggest that they be sent to the Director of the Natural History Museum, Kensington.
X.
In regard to the accompanying map,* I should mention that it was drawn for me by Mr. Youatt, of Bulawayo. It is based upon a tracing (kindly lent to me by Mr. Hannay) of a map issued, I believe, by the Kwebe Concession Company, and compiled by one of their staff. My copy makes no pretensions in the way of scientific accuracy, but it will serve to explain the route taken, and to locate more or less roughly the places mentioned. ·
XI.
I cannot conclude this report without expressing my gratitude to the various officers of the Bechuanaland Protectorate Police, who rendered me every assistance in their power. My best thanks are due to Captain Merry, Acting Magistrate, Serowe, for advice and help in the matter of transport, and to Lieutenant Garbutt, who met me at Totin and made arrangements for my journey on from there, while to Lieutenant H. D. Hannay I am especially indebted for the keen interest which he took in the matter, and for the valuable aid which he afforded me in making my investigations,
Note on the Distribution of Glossina morsitans in N'gamiland.
Two specimens of a species of Glossina were obtained. Unfortunately; being caught by natives, they were slightly damaged, but as far as I could make out they belong to the species Morsitans.
They were found in the vicinity of Masheana's village, and judging from the account given by the natives, there must, at certain seasons of the year, be plenty of "fly in that district, though at Tsepetsele's Post, only eight miles to the west, cattle live with impunity.
"
It would appear that in recent years there has been a marked retraction of the area inhabited by "fly" throughout N'gamiland. Livingstone and Andersen, the earliest travellers, reported “fly" in that country, and later on Selous also speaks of it, and mentions the Chobe River as being especially infested with it. recent times it is known to have been much more widely spread than it is at the Even in more present day. Several of the natives informed me that they could remember the time when it existed all along the Tamelekan River and round Lake N'gami.
Mr. Hannay informs me that there is a "fly area" further north, between the Machabe and the Mogohela Rivers, and possibly this may be a continuation of the fly district round Masheana's village.
Captain Merry, formerly Acting Magistrate in N'gamiland, came across fly in the marshes at a spot about three days' journey north of Tsao, and it would appear therefore that at the present time the fly is only found in or on the outskirts of the
Not received in Colonial Office.