8
No. 485, of the 16th December, 1914,* on the subject of experiments in the destruction
From Secretary of State, No. 237 of 4th
June, 1914.f
From Secretary of State, No. 327 of 28th
July, 1911.
To Secretary of State, No. 15 of 13th
January, 1915.§
and to the fact that some of the most the German frontier.
of wild animals in tsetse-fly areas of Africa, I have the honour to inform you that the Principal Medical Officer has drawn my attention to the present lack of any avail- able medical staff for this purpose, owing to the large number of his departmental officers who are employed on active service, important localities for research lie on or near
2. Dr. Hodges adds that he is of the opinion that the destruction of game in Uganda is not an urgent measure in its relation to human trypanosomiasis, and I would recommend therefore that the systematic game destruction suggested in the Report of the Interdepartmental Committee should be postponed in this Protec- torate until after the duration of the war.
I have, &c,
16347
SIR,
No..10.
UGANDA.
F. J. JACKSON,
Governor.
THE IMPERIAL BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY to COLONIAL OFFICE.
(Received 7th April, 1915.)
British Museum (Natural History), Cromwell Road,
London, S.W., 7th April, 1915.
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of 31st March (No. 10817/15),|| transmitting a copy of a despatch§ from the Governor of the Uganda Protectorate, with reference to the Report of the Interdepartmental Committee on Sleeping Sickness.
2. The statements in the despatch do not appear to call for special comment, except that, with regard to paragraph 2 (c), it would be a matter of interest to learn the details of the clearing experiment referred to, concerning which this Bureau has no record, and negative evidence of this kind is often as important as positive
I have, &c.,
results.
GUY A. K. MARSHALL,
Director.
9
2. Unfortunately my instructions were only partially carried out, and the correspondence was put away before the action was complete.
3. I now enclose, for your information, a copy of a minute by the Senior Sanitary Officer together with a copy of a covering minute by the Principal Medical Cofficer.
4. As regards the question of clearing the bush round towns, villages, cattle enclosures, etc., the District Commissioners have, as Dr. Kennan points out in his minute, already expressed their views, and their recommendations are practically embodied in the draft Rules under the Public Health (Protectorate) Ordinance which have recently received your approval.
5. The clearing of the bush for half a mile on each side of every main road, which has been suggested by the Interdepartmental Committee, is a measure which I fear, is hardly practicable in this Colony and Protectorate.
6. In the first place, the bulk of the roads are what are known as second- class roads or bridle paths, and there are so many of them that it would be diffi- cult to say which of them are main roads. Supposing however, that certain roads are defined as main roads. the clearing of the bush for a distance of half a mile on each side would involve the sacrifice of a large area of land which is needed for purposes of cultivation, and would also entail the destruction of a large number of valuable oil palms. The initial cost of clearing would be very consider- able, and the cost of keeping the ground clear would be still heavier, as the tropical climate and the heavy rainfall cause the bush to grow up with great rapidity.
7. The clearing of a space a mile wide would also cause serious discomfort and inconvenience to travellers, both European and native. One of the main objections to the first-class roads, which are about twelve feet wide, is the want of shade, and the roughest bush path where there is shade is preferable to these roads during the heat of the day. The condition of natives carrying heavy loads along a road with no shade for half a mile on either side would be pitiable in the extreme, and the result would probably be that the roads would be abandoned and fresh bush tracks would be formed just outside the cleared area.
8. I may add that I do not consider the prevalence of the tsetse fly in this Colony sufficient to justify such a measure. The fly is met with in certain locali- ties and attacks people in boats up the rivers and creeks, but, although I have travelled a good deal in different parts of the Protectorate, accompanied by a considerable number of carriers, I have never heard of anyone being bitten by a tsetse fly when travelling along a road.
9. The conditions in East Africa are doubtless very different from those pre- vailing on the West Coast, and I am strongly of opinion that the action of the Government with regard to clearing in Sierra Leone should be limited to the measures laid down in the rules mentioned in paragraph 4 of this despatch.
I have, &c.,
E. M. MEREWETHER,
19115
Governor.
།།། ། །
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
19
Reference :-
C.O. 885
24 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
No. 11.
SIERRA LEONE.
THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 26th April, 1915.)
[Copy to Tropical Diseases Bureau and Imperial Bureau of Entomology,
(No. 165.) SIR,
20th May, 1915.]
[Answered by No. 21.1
Government House, Sierra Leone, 10th April, 1915.
WITH reference to your despatch No. 70, of the 23rd February, I have the honour to inform you that, on the receipt of your despatch No. 261, of the 4th June last,** I issued instructions that paragraphs 2 and 3 of the latter despatch should be referred to the Principal Medical Officer and the Senior Sanitary Oflices for their observations, and that the recommendations of the Interdepartmental Committee on Sleeping Sickness with regard to clearing should be referred to the District Commissioners for an expression of their opinion.
* No. 99 in Miscellaneous No. 287.
§ No. 6.
L.F.
No. 77 in Miscellaneous No. 287. 11567: not printed. 42244/14: not printed.
**No. 70 in Miscellaneous No. 287.
Enclosure 1 in No. 11.
From THE SENIor Sanitary Officer to the Honourable Principal Medical
OFFICER.
Re Secretary of State's despatch No. 261, paragraphs 2 and 3, Honourable Colonial Secretary's minute of 30th March. Re anti-tsetse fly clearing.
(A) In and around settlements (i.e., aggregations of habitations). In Stand- ing Instruction Secretariat No. 5 of 1909, 2 (a), second paragraph, it is laid down (ie., suggested) that "surrounding the town should be cleared a belt of land not less than 200 yards in width.
Cultivation on this belt should be only on its outer two thirds,"
and "(f) Cattle," it is recommended that "the banks of streams at washing places, ferries, places where cattle are watered etc., should be kept free from bush for about 50 yards," and last paragraph recommends "clearings away from water for the herding of cattle,” etc.,
etc.