GEOLOGY 77 



trol of water-supplies is necessary. This may entail the formation 

 of independent departments which would probably take charge 

 later of irrigation works. 



More work has been done in South Africa than in other terri- 

 tories, but farmers in many areas may still have to spend several 

 hundred pounds in sinking useless borings before discovering a 

 suitable site for a permanent well. In Southern Rhodesia, the geo- 

 logical and agricultural departments and the irrigation engineers 

 have paid special attention to water-supply, and the water situa- 

 tion there is comparatively well known. 



For Northern Rhodesia there is little published information, but 

 the government has recently initiated water-boring for the relief 

 of dry areas. The geological department of Nyasaland has been 

 particularly active. Dr. Frank Dixey, Director of the Geological 

 Survey, has written a valuable book on water-supply (1931), 

 which has special reference to African conditions. Chapter VI 

 on water-finding methods, is particularly instructive, and the last 

 chapter summarizes the water-supply conditions of southern, cen- 

 tral, and eastern Africa. References are given there to the more 

 important publications on the subject for the special areas. 



Tanga'nyika has a special water-drilling branch attached to the 

 geological department which has been at work steadily since 

 1 93 1. With regard to water surveys and the action required to 

 make better supplies available, Mr. C. Gillman, Chief Engineer 

 of the Railways, has been particularly interested. In collabora- 

 tion with Dr. E. O. Teale, formerly Director of the Geological 

 Survey, he made a survey of the whole water question in the 

 Northern Province, and their report (1935) is based on a detailed 

 background of geographical setting, including geological struc- 

 ture, relief, climate, soils, vegetation, population, and economic 

 development. In his geographical studies on population, Gillman 

 (1936) again emphasizes the importance of water-supply in Tan- 

 gangyika. 



In Uganda, where a drilling branch was added to the geological 

 department in 1921, extensive work has been carried out, especi- 

 ally in Karamoja, where the water problem is most acute in view 

 of the arid nature of the land and the increase in population. Up 

 to now a hydro -geological survey of that area has not been 



