645 



Division. I have noticed that considerable 

 damage has been done to mealies, in some 

 places nothing of the leaves being left ; onlj' the 

 central stalk remains As, however, the majority 

 of mealies so damaged are still small, they will 

 grow out, and recover from the effect 4 of this. 

 I have not beard of much damage being done to 

 cane. This is probably due to the abundance of 

 green grass and mealies at present, and locusts 

 appear to prefer the latter to cane. We have 

 had some very hot days, but cloudy weather 

 has preponderated — though without much rain, 

 and notwithstanding complaints I have heard 

 that we were getting too much wet weather. I 

 am of a contrary opinion — measurements prove 

 that the actual rainfall has been small, and there 

 are not wanting signs of parching ; moreover, 

 streams have as yet hardly been aifected this 

 summer, not an inch of rain has fallen here this 

 month ; for this time of year that is not enough. 

 Following are some of the metero!ogical obser- 

 vations for November :— Rainfall, 4'54 in., which 

 fell on 17 days, the heaviest being 101 in. on the 

 8th. Max, temperature in the shade 110 degrees 

 on the 28th, min. temperature 60 degrees on the 

 16th, and the mean temperature for month 74"2. 

 I have not the figures by me, but speaking from 

 memory I ran say that one day this month the 

 temperature has reached 100 degrees in the 

 shade. At present we seem in for a dry spell, 

 as the appearances are not favourable to rain. 

 Slock continues to thrive, and the Division is at 

 present clear of disease, no cases of horsesickness 

 have come to my notice. There have been a few 

 cases of influenza amongst horses reported ; I 

 do not, however, know of any cases at the pre- 

 sent moment. I hear that enteric fever has 

 been somewhat prevalent in one or two places 

 amongst Natives, but I have not heard of any 

 cases amongst Europeans. In the early part of 

 the season th* re were signs of a heavy crop of 

 mangoes, but I hear that the fruits have been 

 largely attacked by some kind of blight, which 

 cause them to turn brown and drop off, so that 

 the crop will be small after all. This is a pity, 

 as it is a favourite fruit, and is likely to be d* ar. 

 Avocado pears are also said to be very few on 

 the trees. This appears to be a very uncertain 

 kind of fruit, only yielding a good crop once in 

 several years. Mealies and tobacco have been 

 very largely planted, and given favourable 

 weather, the crops should be heavy ; at present 

 they are looking well, 



John L. Knight, Magistrate. 



IXOPO, 27th November. — During the last 

 fortnight a considerable quantity of rain has 

 fallen. Mealies are very scarce, as far as the 

 natives in the Thorn Districts are concerned, 

 and very large areas of ground are being broken 

 up and planted by Natives— which shows they 

 realise the advisability of providing food for 

 themselves. The election of members for the 

 Local Road Board takes place on the 12th Decem- 

 ber, and a meeting is to be held here on 7th 

 December to decide whether this Magistracy 

 shall be brought under the provisions of the 

 Grass Burning Act, No. 31, 1895. 



Feank E. Foxon, Magistrate. 



LOWER UMFOLOZI. 2nd December.— The 



past month was dry, and but little rain fell till 

 the ni^ht of the 2'Jth — continuing throughout 

 the .^Oth in the form of general, drizzling, soak- 

 ing showers. Slight .ihowers fell also on the 

 16th and 24th. High hot winds from the north 

 were very prevalent, and on the afternoon of 

 the 28th a regular hurricane from the south was 

 experienced. No fresh casas of lungsickness 

 among cattle were reported. Certain two spans 

 of oxen quarantined about the beginning of 

 October last by the then A<^ting Magistrate, 

 were released by Stock Inspector Gielink on the 

 28th. Cattle are generally doing well through- 

 out the District, and are in good coijdition. 

 Crops of mealies and sweet potatoes are most 

 plentiful, though the former — save alocg the 

 coast and about the Upangeni Mission Station — 

 appear to be rather backward, owing, as natives 

 say, to lack of early rains. Along the coast 

 green mealies, from small early-planted patches, 

 are actually being eaten, and, strange to say, 

 kafir corn is, so far, very little in evidence. One 

 small swarm of locusts passel the Magistracy, 

 going south, into Umlalazi District, about the 

 middle of the month, and another settled on 

 the Ubonambi flats, but neither did any damage 

 to crops. 



A. R, R. TuRNBULL, Magistrate. 



NEW HANOVER, 2 ;d December.— There is 

 nothing of interest to relate since my last 

 report. The weattier is remarkably cool for 

 this time of the year. Stock is in the best of 

 condition, A case of cattle stabbing — evidently 

 the culprit was a Native — was reported about 

 two months ago ; otherwise cattle stealing or 

 killing is a very uncommon ofEence as far as 

 this Division is concerned, and I have only had 

 one ca=e of this sort to deal with during the 

 current year. 



A. KiTTER, Magistrate. 



NKANDHLA, 30th November.-The weather 

 has been pleasant, the total rainfall for the 

 month being 274 inches. The minimum tem- 

 terature was 29 degs and the maximum 92 degs. 

 on the r2th and 29th instant respectively. I 

 regret to have to record three fresh outbreaks 

 of lungsickness at the kraals of Msigiza, Chief 

 Siswana ; Ujana, Chief Siganganda ; and at the 

 kraal of the Chief Mpumela. The other herds 

 still under license being R. J. Hutchinson, Em- 

 pandhleni ; Chief Sitthitshili, Jafta ; Chief 

 Moses Sikonyana ; Chief Matshana Ra, Sitsha- 

 guza. At the same time I am pleased to say 

 the disease appears to be in a very light form, 

 as few deaths have so far taken place. The 

 pasturage at the present time is exceedingly 

 good, Mr. J. R, Cooper, Stock Inspector, 

 visited the District on the 7th inst. I regret to 

 say that a considerable amount of sheep steal- 

 ing is going on in the District. Twenty sheep 

 were killed by a flash of lightning at the Ntingwe 

 on the 19th inst. All crops are very backward 

 and up to the present very little cultivation has 

 been done in this neighbourhood and along the 

 border. A few small swarms of locusts have 

 been seen about the District. During the month 

 39 head of cattle, 119 goats and 2 horses were 



