THE WILD FAUNA OF THE EMPIEE 37 



completely disarmed and that their special right to kill game is in 

 no wise recognised. 



None of the native tribes in Southern Ehodesia are, or even 

 were, in any way dependent on the game of the country for a 

 living, and the larger and ever-increasing demand for native labour 

 in South Africa gives them every opportunity to earn money to 

 purchase whatever they may be in need of. 



The Amasvina, a section of the Makalanga nation, who inhabit 

 Mashonaland, still continue, by means of driving game into their 

 nets, to kill a considerable quantity of small buck, but, as this pro- 

 cedure is unlawful, and the administration of the country becomes 

 yearly more effective, this manner of hunting will gradually be 

 put a stop to. 



Tsetse-fly. 



To my mind, the condition in Africa which threatens to become 

 the greatest danger to the effective preservation of big game is the 

 spread of the tsetse-fly (Glossina morsitans). 



With the panic of the rinderpest, the fly for some years became 

 almost extinct in Southern Ehodesia, but now seems to be rapidly 

 increasing. 



It appears to be returning to all its old haunts. 



I am certainly of opinion, after years of residence in the fly 

 area, that it is not possible to assign fixed limits to fly areas, and 

 that fly {Glossina morsitans) does certainly not only confine itself 

 to hot moist river valleys. 



I have repeatedly found fly in very great numbers at an eleva- 

 tion of over 4,000 feet, on the highest ground in the locality; in 

 fact, on the summit of the Iwide, which separates two streams, 

 the ground where the game stands during the day. 



I have known fly to shift from one locality to another, dis- 

 appear and reappear, following, I have always imagined, the 

 migration of the game. 



In such newly settled countries as Ehodesia public opinion is 

 violent, loud spoken, and cannot be disregarded, and such opinion 

 is undoubtedly adverse to the preservation of game in fly areas, 

 arguing that the protection of the game is tantamount to the pre- 

 servation of the tsetse-fly. 



I see that doubt has been thrown on this presumption, but 

 public opinion is hard to convince, and that such a sequence is 

 not the case will have to be very clearly proved before it will be 

 accepted by the settlers. 



Added to the distrust produced by the known attributes of the 

 fly {Glossina morsitans) is the added terror that it may possibly 

 carry the germ of the dreaded sleeping sickness. 



Of course public opinion is ignorant ; it is ill-informed and 

 does not distinguish between species of fly, but the lay mind is 



