Reports to the Foreign Office. 151 



calised by the bite of the Glossina morsitans occurs in places such as 

 Mombasa, where Tsetse-fly and Buffalo are non-existent, 



I have, etc., 



(Signed) Robert J. Stordy, M.E.C.V.S. (Vety. Officer, E.A.P.). 



Nairobi, 



East Africa Protectorate, 



3rd September, 1901. 



To R. SxoRm-, Esq., M.R.C.V.S. 



Dear Mr. Stordy, — ^Many thanks for sending me the communi- 

 <iations you have received from Sir Charles Eliot, re the Buffalo and 

 Tsetse-fly. 



That the two should be associated is not extraordinary when one 

 remembers that both inhabit densely-wooded, damp, secluded districts, 

 but the arguments advanced to prove that the Bos Gaffa alone is the 

 host of the Tsetse, and that the extermination of the former leads to the 

 disappearance of the latter do not appear to me to be convincing. From 

 my own observation I am inclined to the opinion that hosts other than the 

 one species mentioned (or some other factors) are necessary for the 

 propagation of the fly, and that the hsematozoou is in all probability to 

 be found in many species of diptera. 



During my residence in Jubaland, East Africa Protectorate, which 

 •extended over two years, I had ample opportunity of studying the habits 

 and distribution of the Tsetse-fly and the effect it produced on domestic 

 animals. 



Speaking generally, the fly belt is confined to two distinct areas in 

 that province. 



(1) The valley of the Juba River within the forest belt. Here fly 

 abounds for a distance of upwards of 400 miles — in fact, so general 

 is it in places that it is a source of annoyance to Europeans and natives. 

 Yet within the whole of that great tract of country Buffalo are few and 

 far between. The late Mr. Jenner and I came across them in one place 

 only (Lake Ohdey and district). Within this belt is the district of Gosha, 

 80 to 100 miles in length, where the fly is peculiarly abundant, yet Buffalo 

 are not found ; notwithstanding this, the ha3matozoon is very virulent, 

 and on the occasion of the late Mr. Jenner's expedition to Lugh in 189'J, 

 he lost every camel and pack-ox that went through {vide my report, 

 May 16th, 1899, forwarded to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, 

 No. 53, May 31st, 1899). 



(2) The region of Lake Kumbi to the north-east of Desek Wama 

 (Lake Hardinge), where the distribution of the fly is restricted to the 

 dense forest belt in the neighbourhood ; yet Buffalo are not known to 

 frequent this district. It appears to me reasonable to assume that where 

 fly is abundantly found extending over a large tract of country that its 

 natural host (if one only) should be in large numbers also ; or else the fly 

 must be possessed of extraordinary migratory powers. 



If that host be the Buffalo, it is strange that it is particularly 

 conspicuous by its absence in the extensive districts mentioned, while 

 waterbuck and bushbuck are common in most parts, and yet again in 



