﻿THE 
  RELATIONS 
  OF 
  GLOSSINA 
  MORSITANS 
  AND 
  GAME. 
  9 
  

  

  Regarding 
  the 
  second 
  explanation, 
  that 
  fly 
  disappeared 
  because 
  their 
  food 
  supply, 
  

   the 
  game, 
  was 
  destroyed 
  by 
  the 
  rinderpest, 
  there 
  is 
  considerable 
  difference 
  of 
  opinion. 
  

   While 
  the 
  majority 
  of 
  the 
  observers 
  hold 
  that 
  the 
  fly 
  are 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  intimately 
  

   dependent 
  on 
  the 
  game 
  for 
  their 
  existence, 
  others, 
  and 
  among 
  them 
  Stevenson- 
  

   Hamilton, 
  Sir 
  F. 
  J. 
  Jackson 
  and 
  Neumann, 
  point 
  to 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  fly 
  areas 
  in 
  

   which, 
  they 
  state, 
  game 
  is 
  either 
  absent 
  or 
  in 
  numbers 
  inadequate 
  to 
  constitute 
  

   the 
  sole 
  food 
  supply 
  for 
  the 
  existing 
  tsetse. 
  

  

  If 
  it 
  were 
  possible 
  to 
  discover 
  an 
  area 
  in 
  which 
  tsetse 
  exist 
  year 
  after 
  year 
  and 
  

   from 
  which 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  ungulate 
  game 
  and 
  their 
  attendant 
  carnivora 
  could 
  be 
  

   completely 
  excluded, 
  we 
  should 
  then 
  know 
  that 
  the 
  fly 
  could 
  subsist 
  entirely 
  on 
  

   baboons, 
  monkeys, 
  small 
  mammals, 
  birds 
  and 
  reptiles. 
  But, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  I 
  can 
  discover, 
  

   no 
  such 
  game-free 
  fly 
  belt 
  has 
  been 
  found. 
  Even 
  if 
  such 
  did 
  exist, 
  however, 
  it 
  

   would 
  not 
  necessarily 
  follow 
  that 
  the 
  sudden 
  or 
  even 
  the 
  gradual 
  disappearance 
  

   of 
  the 
  ungulates 
  from 
  a 
  tsetse 
  area 
  rich 
  in 
  game 
  would 
  not 
  ultimately 
  be 
  detrimental 
  

   or 
  even 
  fatal 
  to 
  the 
  fly. 
  Apparently 
  rarity 
  of 
  the 
  game 
  is 
  a 
  different 
  proposition 
  ; 
  

   the 
  human 
  standpoint 
  may 
  well 
  differ 
  from 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  fly 
  in 
  such 
  matters. 
  Thus, 
  

   little 
  is 
  known 
  at 
  present 
  regarding 
  the 
  length 
  of 
  time 
  wild 
  fly 
  can 
  exist 
  without 
  

   blood, 
  or 
  the 
  relation 
  between 
  food 
  supply 
  and 
  the 
  production 
  of 
  larvae. 
  I 
  have 
  

   kept 
  wild 
  captive 
  palpalis 
  alive 
  without 
  any 
  food 
  for 
  10 
  days, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  highly 
  pro- 
  

   bable 
  that 
  fly 
  under 
  natural 
  conditions 
  can 
  exist 
  much 
  longer 
  without 
  blood. 
  The 
  

   hardiness 
  of 
  the 
  fly, 
  coupled 
  with 
  the 
  local 
  habits 
  of 
  such 
  game 
  as 
  duiker, 
  dikdik, 
  

   warthog 
  and 
  bushbuck, 
  must 
  be 
  borne 
  in 
  mind 
  in 
  dealing 
  with 
  an 
  apparent 
  absence 
  

   of 
  game 
  from 
  a 
  fly 
  belt. 
  

  

  One 
  of 
  the 
  best 
  authenticated 
  examples 
  of 
  the 
  occurrence 
  of 
  tsetse 
  in 
  a 
  locality 
  

   almost 
  totally 
  devoid 
  of 
  ungulate 
  game 
  is 
  the 
  fly 
  belt 
  mentioned 
  by 
  Stevenson- 
  

   Hamilton 
  (3) 
  in 
  the 
  Nyassa 
  district 
  of 
  Portuguese 
  East 
  Africa. 
  His 
  personal 
  

   observations 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  rarity 
  of 
  the 
  game 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  his 
  passage, 
  the 
  dry 
  season 
  

   of 
  1908, 
  must 
  be 
  accepted 
  as 
  correct 
  as 
  coming 
  from 
  a 
  careful 
  observer 
  and 
  a 
  keen 
  

   hunter. 
  It 
  is, 
  however, 
  plain 
  from 
  his 
  reports 
  that 
  big 
  game 
  did 
  exist 
  in 
  the 
  

   neighbourhood, 
  though 
  in 
  very 
  small 
  numbers. 
  He 
  himself 
  mentions 
  a 
  ' 
  few 
  

   kudu 
  " 
  in 
  the 
  narrow 
  strip 
  of 
  country 
  between 
  the 
  fly 
  belts 
  ; 
  and 
  Howard 
  (5) 
  re- 
  

   ferring 
  to 
  Hamilton's 
  trip 
  mentions 
  one 
  waterbuck 
  having 
  been 
  shot, 
  the 
  presence 
  

   of 
  a 
  few 
  elephant, 
  and 
  the 
  finding 
  on 
  one 
  occasion 
  of 
  buffalo 
  spoor. 
  The 
  party 
  

   traversed 
  the 
  bush 
  along 
  a 
  main 
  native 
  track, 
  and 
  their 
  opportunities 
  for 
  studying 
  

   the 
  fauna 
  of 
  the 
  belt 
  were 
  limited 
  to 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  this 
  track. 
  Howard 
  produces 
  

   evidence 
  showing 
  that 
  5 
  or 
  6 
  years 
  before 
  Hamilton's 
  visit 
  this 
  district 
  was 
  full 
  of 
  

   big 
  game, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  evident 
  from 
  the 
  account 
  of 
  Barnett's 
  trip 
  along 
  the 
  Rovuma 
  

   River 
  (6), 
  that 
  in 
  1910 
  both 
  game 
  and 
  fly 
  were 
  present 
  in 
  fair 
  numbers 
  in 
  the 
  

   country 
  immediately 
  to 
  the 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  belt. 
  Reference 
  to 
  Howard's 
  map 
  of 
  the 
  

   fly 
  distribution 
  in 
  Portuguese 
  East 
  Africa 
  shows 
  that 
  in 
  1910 
  the 
  first 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  

   belts 
  was 
  a 
  mere 
  focus, 
  possibly 
  a 
  disappearing 
  remnant 
  of 
  the 
  greater 
  numbers 
  

   seen 
  by 
  Hamilton. 
  Hamilton 
  describes 
  the 
  fly 
  as 
  in 
  " 
  swarms 
  " 
  and 
  " 
  extremely 
  

   troublesome, 
  often 
  biting 
  ourselves 
  and 
  our 
  natives 
  after 
  sundown." 
  It 
  is, 
  indeed, 
  

   usual 
  to 
  find 
  references 
  to 
  areas 
  where 
  game 
  is 
  rare 
  couched 
  in 
  similar 
  terms. 
  But 
  

   it 
  is 
  possible, 
  indeed 
  probable, 
  that 
  under 
  these 
  circumstances, 
  their 
  number 
  and 
  

   persistence 
  testify 
  rather 
  to 
  the 
  desperate 
  vigilance 
  of 
  flies 
  assembled 
  from 
  a 
  large 
  

  

  