﻿TSETSE 
  FLY 
  IN 
  SOUTHERN 
  RHODESIA, 
  1918. 
  75 
  

  

  with 
  the 
  Umniati, 
  and 
  then 
  to 
  Hartley. 
  Natives 
  stated 
  that 
  fly 
  had 
  disappeared 
  on 
  

   game 
  being 
  destroyed 
  by 
  rinderpest. 
  Subsequently 
  to 
  that 
  year 
  I 
  criss-crossed 
  the 
  

   whole 
  district, 
  except 
  the 
  piece 
  of 
  country 
  bounded 
  on 
  the 
  east 
  by 
  the 
  railway, 
  north 
  

   by 
  the 
  Hastings 
  road 
  and 
  south 
  by 
  the 
  Msweswe, 
  and 
  never 
  found 
  fly 
  at 
  any 
  time. 
  

   In 
  1898-9 
  I 
  heard 
  of 
  it 
  at 
  the 
  water-holes 
  and 
  headwaters 
  of 
  the 
  Shagari 
  river. 
  In 
  

   1901 
  1 
  heard 
  of 
  its 
  being 
  in 
  the 
  country 
  between 
  the 
  Beri 
  and 
  Umfuli 
  rivers, 
  near 
  their 
  

   junction, 
  but 
  messengers 
  sent 
  out 
  did 
  not 
  bring 
  any 
  in 
  nor 
  did 
  they 
  find 
  any. 
  In 
  

   the 
  latter 
  part 
  of 
  that 
  year 
  or 
  early 
  in 
  1902 
  I 
  caught 
  tsetse 
  on 
  the 
  railway 
  line 
  on 
  

   the 
  headwaters 
  of 
  the 
  Suri-suri 
  River. 
  In 
  August 
  1902, 
  J. 
  McAdams 
  brought 
  in 
  a 
  

   number 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  caught 
  (some 
  six 
  or 
  eight 
  miles, 
  I 
  think) 
  west 
  of 
  the 
  Golden 
  

   Valley 
  Road 
  on 
  the 
  Suri-suri 
  River." 
  (Note.— 
  The 
  last 
  statement 
  should 
  probably 
  

   read 
  " 
  west 
  of 
  the 
  Suri-suri 
  River 
  on 
  the 
  Golden 
  Valley 
  Road," 
  as 
  the 
  latter 
  runs 
  

   approximately 
  east 
  and 
  west.) 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  evident 
  therefore 
  that 
  from 
  1898 
  onwards 
  tsetse 
  began 
  to 
  make 
  its 
  presence 
  

   felt 
  again 
  in 
  the 
  Hartley 
  district, 
  and 
  that 
  by 
  1902 
  it 
  was 
  present 
  in 
  considerable 
  

   numbers 
  in 
  the 
  neighbourhood 
  of 
  the 
  Suri-suri 
  and 
  Shagari 
  Rivers. 
  There 
  is 
  ample 
  

   evidence 
  to 
  the 
  effect 
  that 
  during 
  the 
  years 
  following 
  the 
  fly 
  was 
  abundant 
  in 
  

   certain 
  parts 
  of 
  this 
  area 
  and 
  continued 
  so 
  until 
  the 
  year 
  1908. 
  

  

  The 
  course 
  of 
  events 
  in 
  the 
  Hartley 
  district 
  constitutes 
  such 
  a 
  valuable 
  record 
  in 
  

   connection 
  with 
  the 
  question 
  of 
  the 
  relation 
  of 
  tsetse-fly 
  to 
  the 
  larger 
  mammals 
  that 
  

   at 
  the 
  risk 
  of 
  being 
  accused 
  of 
  labouring 
  the 
  various 
  points 
  the 
  writer 
  is 
  impelled 
  to 
  

   place 
  as 
  much 
  of 
  the 
  available 
  evidence 
  as 
  possible 
  on 
  record. 
  From 
  a 
  strictly 
  

   scientific 
  point 
  of 
  view 
  it 
  is 
  rather 
  unfortunate 
  that 
  the 
  old 
  fly 
  area 
  in 
  this 
  locality 
  

   has 
  been 
  deforested, 
  as 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  tendency 
  at 
  present 
  to 
  ignore 
  the 
  events, 
  obvious 
  

   at 
  the 
  time, 
  which 
  preceded 
  the 
  deforestation. 
  The 
  points 
  it 
  is 
  desired 
  firmly 
  to 
  

   establish 
  are 
  (1) 
  that 
  there 
  was 
  a 
  notable 
  reduction 
  of 
  fly 
  in 
  the 
  basin 
  of 
  the 
  Suri- 
  

   suri, 
  Umswezwe 
  and 
  Shagari 
  Rivers 
  between 
  the 
  years 
  1908 
  and 
  1913 
  ; 
  (2) 
  that 
  there 
  

   was 
  a 
  coincident 
  reduction 
  of 
  large 
  game 
  ; 
  (3) 
  that 
  a 
  considerable 
  area 
  surrounding 
  

   the 
  upper 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  three 
  rivers 
  mentioned 
  still 
  remained 
  virgin 
  forest 
  as 
  late 
  

   as 
  1913, 
  when 
  the 
  wood 
  contractors 
  commenced 
  to 
  work 
  this 
  area 
  in 
  connection 
  with 
  

   the 
  supply 
  of 
  timber 
  and 
  firewood 
  to 
  the 
  Cam 
  and 
  Motor 
  mine. 
  

  

  The 
  year 
  1908 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  marked 
  by 
  an 
  unusually 
  large 
  number 
  of 
  cases 
  

   of 
  trypanosomiasis 
  around 
  the 
  Suri-suri 
  fly 
  area, 
  and 
  the 
  losses 
  continued 
  during 
  the 
  

   early 
  part 
  of 
  1909. 
  This 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  due 
  to 
  a 
  culmination 
  in 
  the 
  numbers 
  of 
  

   tsetse, 
  to 
  the 
  increased 
  hunger 
  of 
  the 
  flies 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  reduction 
  of 
  game 
  up 
  to 
  that 
  

   year, 
  or 
  to 
  increased 
  agricultural 
  and 
  industrial 
  activity 
  in 
  the 
  neighbourhood. 
  A 
  

   number 
  of 
  farms 
  on 
  the 
  railway 
  line 
  near 
  the 
  headwaters 
  of 
  the 
  Suri-suri 
  were 
  taken 
  

   up 
  in 
  that 
  year, 
  and 
  considerable 
  losses 
  were 
  experienced 
  in 
  this 
  region. 
  In 
  addition 
  

   the 
  Veterinary 
  Department 
  records 
  losses 
  at 
  the 
  Dreadnought 
  and 
  neighbouring 
  

   mines 
  north 
  of 
  Gatooma, 
  at 
  Hippovale 
  farm 
  on 
  the 
  Umfuli 
  River, 
  on 
  the 
  Eiffel 
  Flats 
  

   east 
  of 
  Gatooma, 
  and 
  numerous 
  cases 
  amongst 
  transport 
  oxen 
  working 
  from 
  Gatooma 
  

   and 
  Hartley. 
  

  

  Direct 
  evidence 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  abundance 
  of 
  the 
  flies 
  themselves 
  is 
  also 
  not 
  lacking. 
  Mr. 
  

   W. 
  E. 
  Masters, 
  of 
  the 
  Dreadnought 
  Mine, 
  in 
  a 
  letter 
  to 
  the 
  writer 
  states 
  that 
  in 
  a 
  well- 
  

   known 
  vlei 
  slightly 
  to 
  the 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  Dreadnought 
  Mine 
  on 
  the 
  Hartley-Golden 
  

   Valley 
  road, 
  fly 
  about 
  this 
  time 
  was 
  present 
  in 
  hundreds 
  on 
  every 
  warm 
  dav. 
  Mr. 
  

  

  