169 



PRELIMINARY NOTE ON THE TSETSE-FLIES OF THE KABALO- 

 ALBERTVILLE (LUAL ABA-TANGANYIKA) RAILWAY. 



By Dr. Schwetz. 



(Map II.) 



The Kabala-Albertville Railway is an important section of that great river and 

 railroad route by which one can now cross the whole of equatorial Africa from Banana 

 to Daressalaam, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean, without having to walk 

 a single step. It is therefore a railway with a great future, which deserves to be 

 studied from all points of view, and particularly with regard to the distribution of 

 tsetse-flies, as the region traversed by this railway was ravaged a few years ago by 

 sleeping sickness and the railway is probably destined in part for the transport of 

 cattle. 



A third of this railway, or rather of its route before construction, had already been 

 investigated by me from the point of view of tsetse exactly five years ago, in October 

 1911,* but besides the fact that at that time I had studied only a part of the route, 

 our general knowledge, and mine in particular, of the classification and habits of 

 Glossina have since then considerably increased. I had, therefore, not only to 

 complete my former observations, but to recommence them. But although having 

 desired to do this for some time, while I had been in the neighbourhood of Lualaba, 

 it is only recently, at the beginning of 1916, that I have been able to recommence, 

 but unfortunately not to finish, my investigations. I have only been able to give 

 14 days to my journey of investigation between Kabalo and Albertville, and during 

 that short journey I was convinced that I ought to give six weeks or two months if I 

 were to study the question thoroughly. 



I hope soon to have the necessary time to proceed to a more thorough study of the 

 position, but as one is never sure of being able to carry out a plan, I think it well to 

 record at once the result of some preliminary observations. 



To make my record systematic, I proceeded in the following manner. I first 

 journeyed uninterruptedly by train from Kabalo to Albertville (a day and a half), 

 in order to gain a general idea of the district. During the return journey I stopped 

 for 24 hours in nine different spots. In three of these districts I stayed 48 hours. 

 Finally I traversed about 40 kilometres in lorries. My description follows the same 

 course. I will first describe what I saw in general and then what I found in the 

 various districts. The presence of Glossina depends almost entirely, in my opinion, 

 on the character of the vegetation. I will therefore begin with a description of this, 

 which I consider a most important point. 



The Country bordering on the Kabalo-Albertville Railway. 



The Lualaba-Tanganyika Railway measures exactly 273 kilometres, and a straight 

 line drawn between the two termini would measure approximately 250 kilometres. 



* Les Glossines et la maladie du sommeil dans la valles de la Lukuga. — Revue zoologique 

 afrlcaine, Bruxelles, 1912, et Archiv fiir Schiffs-und Tropen-Hygiene, Leipzig, 1913< 

 (C394) d 



