IIESBAKCII IN BRITISH WEST A Kit ILIA. 341 



without the use oi; axes and uiatehets. On entering it one is eouscious of a fall 

 of several degrees in the temperature, and except in a few places the sun's 

 rays hardly penetrate, so that the shade afforded renders the use of a helmet 

 almost unnecessary. It was a veritable haunt of tsetse, which simply swarmed 

 around the ponies and carriers, and were extremely persistent in their attacks, 

 but at the same time very wary and difficult to catch. Both G. palpalis and 

 G. lonffipalpif occur there. One of these, a G. longiijalpalis, was observed on 

 the pony's neck after it had been feeding for some time. On being disturbed, 

 it fell to the ground less than a yard away, and so gorged with blood was it 

 that it could not cross its wings, nor was it able to fly. Although only about 

 three feet away from the bush, which it endeavoured to reach, it managed to 

 cover this distance only after four abortive attempts to fly, which resulted only 

 in a series of long jumps. After entering the bush, it settled on the under side 

 of a leaf, and remained there for some ten minutes, during which time I watched 

 it and then without any difficulty caught it by means of its wings. It hai'dly 

 made any effort to escape, but sat on my hand in a comatose condition. 



At the town of Auru, G. palpalis was caught, and the same species was found 

 at Oda. The road from Auru to Oda is excellent, and passes through open 

 bush country. Near the town of Oda, two specimens of Chrysops silacea were 

 secured. From Oda to Ankpa there are numerous long stretches of dense bush, 

 but, although tsetse no doubt exist all along the road, none was actually seen 

 on this journey. The latter town has lately been made the headquarters of the 

 province. The European settlement is situated on the side of a steep hill leading- 

 down to the valley of the River Mabolo, but the site has been condemned by 

 Dr. ]M. Cameron Blair, the Senior Sanitary Officer for Northern Nigeria. During 

 the rains, the water coursing down the hillside practically floods all the houses, 

 and drains several feet deep are hardly sufficient to carry it oft\ The military 

 quarters at the foot of the hill, and the parade ground are fi'equently under 

 water during this season. 



The rivers and streams which have been hitherto mentioned in this province 

 all drain into the Benue, but the Mabolo in the Ankpa valley runs into the 

 River Anambra, which is a tributary of the Niger, and enters it near Onitsha, 

 in Southern Nigeria. 



The bed of the Mabolo is composed in this region of beautiful white sand, 

 and the river itself is surrounded by dense kurimi. G. palpalis is everywhere 

 abundant, .and specimens were seen in the European military quarters, and also 

 in the house in which I was stationed, about half-way up the hill. Apart 

 tlierefore from the question of flooding dui-ing the rains, the site of the 

 European quarters at Ankpa must be condemned owing to its too close 

 proximity to the ^:ia//)«fc-bearing kurimi in the Mabolo valley. A new site 

 lias been selected on the high plateau, and although there is a certain amount 

 of clearing already accomplished in tliis part, considerably more will have to 

 be done in order to minimise the possibility of G, palpalh actually invading 

 the European enclosure. 



Trypanosomiasis in horses is extremely prevalent at Ankpa. Seldom do 

 any live for more than thi-ec or four months after their arrival. One 

 medical officer who was stationed here kept a horse alive for seven months, 



