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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :--
CO.885/25
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
may
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With reference to the concluding paragraph of the Administrator's letter, the Board will be glad to know whether it can be supplied with any information which have been acquired by your Department since your letter of the 27th January.
I am, &c.,
A. P. MILLAR,
Assistant Secretary.
SIR,
Enclosure in No. 28.
Department of the Administrator, Salisbury,
Rhodesia, 23rd November, 1915.
Sleeping Sickness: Destruction of Game.
REVERTING to previous correspondence in the above matter, and particularly to your letter of 13th February, 1915, the Departments concerned have been collect- ing, through the Native Commissioners, all the information available on the subject. The whole matter still remains a very complex one, but you will be enabled to advise the Colonial Office from my letter how the inatter at present stands.
You are aware of the investigations which led up to Government Notice No. 227 of 1913 which made the considerable Sebungwe District an open aiea fol shooting for a period of one year from 1st July, 1913.
He visited the The Government Entomologist reported in December, 1914. fly areas in the Mafungabusi portion of the Sebungwe District. The object of his trip was to ascertain if any appreciable difference in the number and distribution of tsetse could be traced as the result of the areas having been thrown open to free shooting that year.
He reported that the fly was still spreading, but that this might in some degree be accounted for by the fact that hunters had largely confined their atten- He summarized tion to elephant, and the game in general was as abundant as ever.
his report by saying that, in the area in which the game laws have been suspended, between the Sengwa and Umniati Rivers, no appreciable diminution of the game, with the exception of elephant, was yet apparent, and the tsetse appeared to be still extending its range in continuance of the movement noted during the past eighteen years.
Subsequently the Medical Director, Dr. Fleming, reported in respect of blood smears taken from a mule at Salisbury which contracted trypanosomiasis at Gwam- pongo vlei, near the Sengwa River, in November, 1914. He again reported that tsetse fly was undoubtedly spreading eastward in spite of throwing open the Mafungabusi shooting, and recommended the wholesale slaughter of antelope.
I have now before me a report by the Director of Agriculture (copy of which I enclose), and I am considering how far his scheme, which is mainly based on the wholesale destruction of game, is, in the light of past experience, feasible, and whether the expense likely to be entailed would be justified.
I would point out that the expedition of the Tropical School of Medicine left many important and fundamental points still open to research, and it may be that the Colonial Office has since acquired information that might be of very great value to us at this juncture.
The Secretary,
The British South Africa Company,
2, London Wall Buildings, London, E.C.
THE TREASURER,
I am, &c.
F. D. P. CHAPLIN,
Administrator.
Department of Agriculture, Salisbury,
8th November, 1915.
Tsetse Fly and Destruction of Game.
THE attached papers indicate that some attention has been given to this matter during the past months, but no actual policy decided on nor action taken. I submit a few remarks and specific recommendations for consideration.
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The papers contain various proposals from Rhodesian and foreign sources. The proposals I now submit are intended only to serve as a basis of discussion and for improvement before final adoption.
The principle of destruction of wild animals for the purpose of checking the advance of tsetse fly on organized lines has been approved by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Mr. Harcourt, and the lines of a scheme for adoption in this country are outlined by Mr. Carbutt, of Plumtree. The complete destruction of game throughout large tracts of country is impracticable, undesirable, and unnecessary; extermination in a clearly defined zone is, however, feasible and justifi- able and likely to have the desired effect. The arming of natives for this purpose has been objected to, yet a number of natives in Rhodesia hold permits to carry arms, and these, with some additional, specially selected, reliable, superior boys might well be used. I would suggest that white and coloured men be employed as hunters; fifty men should suffice. The services of many of those who have been shooting in the free areas might be secured, and, whilst they would require higher remuneration than natives, they should be more efficient, accomplishing more execu- tion in a given time, or a smaller number sufficing. They might be paid either by day or by results, and should find their own weapons and ammunition so as to prevent the squandering of the latter. They must be under the strict control of a respon- sible and capable person, who might be a member of the British South Africa Police, or, if not, he should be accompanied by one to maintain order. No doubt natives could readily be obtained to accompany the armed hunters as beaters, porters, and to skin game.
The plan of campaign would have to be carefully devised beforehand, and, the shooting being conducted in a series of battues under the strict control of the responsible officer, the pay might well be pooled amongst the hunters, so as to avoid self interest leading to shooting in such a manner as to hinder the object in view. No provision exists on the present votes for this purpose. The expense will depend upon the scale of operations and can best be estimated by the officer entrusted with carrying out the scheme, but in any case it is to be recollected that, whatever the cost, it would be small in comparison to the value of land now indefinitely closed to development by reason of tsetse and to the injury done to the reputation of Rhodesia as a country in which tsetse fly is spreading, a menace to life and to the whole prosperity of the country. No doubt some considerable cost is entailed, but the returns from the sale of hides and tusks ought to go some way In addition to elephant tusks and teeth, better specimens Blood smears of to cover the expenses. of horns and wild boar tusks should also be secured for sale. every animal shot, with particulars regarding kind, age, sex, date, and locality should be taken and systematically examined at the Veterinary Laboratory. necessary a Microscopist should be specially employed on this work once the systematic extermination of game commences.
If
what game returns A preliminary estimate of the game in each area shot over should be made by the Superintendent, and counts at intervals thereafter to see into cleared blocks; no doubt each block will have to be shot over periodically. Unfortunately, no observations of this sort, nor even of the numbers shot in open areas, hitherto have been made.
Observations of the distribution and quantity of fly before and after a block This work should be controlled by the has been shot over should also be made. Entomologist.
It is proposed that this extermination should only take place in a belt surround- ing on three sides, north, south, and east, the free shooting area of Mafungabusi, which is bounded on the west by the area in which sleeping sickness is known to exist. Approximately this belt would be 450 miles long by ten to twenty wide. We thus have three distinct zones: (1) the extermination belt, (2) the free shooting Within the area, and (3) the prohibited area. These are indicated on the attached map, which also gives the latest information regarding known spread of tsetse. extermination belt shooting would only be conducted under the supervision of In the free shooting area the Government, commencing at the south-west end. present arrangement would hold, but the drawback of trespassing beyond the boundaries is overcome by the fact that the extermination belt surrounds it. The prohibited area would not be dealt with, at least until practical measures for the suppression of tsetse have been evolved.
*Not received in Colonial Office.