31
50
As there is no sleeping sickness in connexion with the Lomagundi free shooting area no fresh steps need be taken up there.
Reports on the effect of opening certain areas to free shooting show that (a) a certain amount of game has been killed; (b) that the elephants have been shot, and that, to secure these, other game has been left alone to some extent; (c) that the game has largely been driven out of these areas, but in every direction; and (d) that much shooting has been carried out in regions adjoining the free areas, and the game consequently occasionally driven into them as well as out of them. The object in view having been to some extent counteracted by this last- mentioned poaching (d) only proves the effectiveness of shooting in dispersing game, and not the contrary inference that free shooting is a failure. But this fact does demonstrate the necessity of having the boundaries of the free areas patrolled by police in order to ensure that the game driven out of the free shooting areas will not be chased in again by hunters trespassing across the line.
Since game has been observed coming out of the free shooting areas into inhabited country it is only reasonable to suppose that there has been a correspond- ing movement also to the west into the uninhabited sleeping sickness areas of Sebungwe. The fact that one or two rash hunters have followed the elephant into that danger area bears this out.
The Government agreed (8th April, 1915) that action should be deferred until times were normal. In this connexion it must be pointed out that the spread of fly has by no means ceased, and the danger is becoming more acute with the course of time.
The communication made by the Colonial Office to the British South Africa Police regarding experiments in Nyasaland deserves attention in this connexion.
Whilst this subject requires consideration by various branches of the Govern- ment, the scheme can only be successfully carried out by one Department, be it that of Police, Native Affairs, Agriculture, or Public Health, although the co-operation of each will be called for. If desired, however, a conference of all concerned, or a standing consultative committee, might be appointed, although this seems hardly necessary where all are Government officers and available whenever needed to give expression to their views in memorandum form. To this end a copy of this minute might, perhaps, be circulated amongst the undermentioned officers for an expres- sion of their views, suggestions, and criticisms: the Chief Native Commissioner, Medical Director, Chief Veterinary Surgeon, Veterinary Bacteriologist, Entomolo- gist, Native Commissioner, Plumtree (Mr. Carbutt), and Dr. MacKenzie of Hartley. As regards the need of tsetse fly investigations, I merely endorse once again the Entomologist's proposals submitted on 24th July, 1914, and recommend that they be adopted, although I presume no provision was made for this on last Estimates.
ERIC A. NOBBS, Director of Agriculture.
51
2. I shall be glad if you will cause a copy of Dr. Hood's minute to be forwarded to Dr. Bagshawe, for his information, together with the copy of the Southern Nigeria Medical Report annexed.
I have, &c.,
CENTRAL SECRETARY,
Enclosure in No. 29.
F. D. LUGARD,
Governor-General.
I BASED my remarks as to the mortality of sleeping sickness on a report by Dr. Scott Macfie published in the scientific section of the Southern Nigeria Medical Report for 1913, page 58, which received some confirmation by a report on the same subject by Dr. Gallagher, also published in the 1913 Annual Medical Report of Southern Nigeria, page 65.
Might a copy of the Annual Medical Report of Southern Nigeria for 1913 be forwarded with this minute, for Dr. Bagshawe's perusal, please?
T. HOOD,
17th January, 1916.
8761
SIR,
Director of the Medical and Sanitary
Service.
No. 30. NIGERIA.
COLONIAL OFFICE to TROPICAL DISEASES BUREAU.
Downing Street, 15th March, 1916. WITH reference to your letter of the 9th of June last,* regarding the report of the Interdepartmental Committee on Sleeping Sickness,t I am directed by Mr. Secretary Bonar Law to transmit to you a copy of a despatch‡ on the subject which was addressed to the West African Governments on the 5th of October last.
2. The comments of the Director of the Medical and Sanitary Service of Nigeria on paragraph 5 of your letter have now been received. Dr. Hood states that he based his remarks as to the mortality of sleeping sickness on a report by Dr. Scott Macfie, published in the scientific section of the Southern Nigeria Medical Report for 1913 (page 58), and that a report on the same subject by Dr. Gallagher appears to afford some confirmation of his remarks. It is understood that a copy of the report referred to is in your possession.
I am, &c.,
H. J. READ.
8761
No. 29.
NIGERIA.
17975
No. 31.
SOUTHERN RHODESIA.
THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 22nd February, 1916.)
(No. 62.) SIR,
Government House, Nigeria, 31st January, 1916. WITH reference to the last paragraph of your despatch Nigeria No. 1414, of the 5th October, 1915, in which you express a desire to be furnished with the comments of Dr. Hood in respect to certain queries raised by Dr. Bagshawe on the subject of the percentage of mortality in cases of sleeping sickness in the Eket country, I have the honour to transmit a copy of a minute by the Director of the Medical and Sanitary Service in which it is pointed out that the statistics furnished were based on information obtained from the Southern Nigeria Annual Medical Report for 1913.
*No. 21 in Miscellaneous No. 815.
SIR,
THE BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY to COLONIAL OFFICE.
(Received 15th April, 1916.)
2, London Wall Buildings, London, E.C., 14th April, 1916.
I AM directed to refer to my letter of the 13th January last, § on the subject of various points arising out of the report by the Interdepartmental Committee on Sleeping Sickness,† and to enclose, for the information of the Secretary of State, a copy of a letter, dated the 22nd February last, which has been received from the Secretary to the Department of the Administrator of Southern Rhodesia, together with a copy of a report of the proceedings at the meeting held at Salisbury on the 14th February to discuss the present position regarding tsetse fly in Southern Rhodesia.
No. 15 in Miscellaneous No. 815. ↑ [Cd. 7349]. No. 21 in Miscellaneous No. 315.
E
§ No. 20.
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
mminum mi C.O.
885/25
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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