304 JAS. J. SIMPSON—ENTOMOLOGICAL 
lies approximately within the parallels of 7° and 14° North latitude, and between 
the meridians of 3° and 15° Kast longitude. It is bounded on the north by the 
arid regions of the French Sudan, on the west by the lofty Kameruns, on the east 
by the French Colony of Dahomey (or French Nigeria), and on the south by 
Southern Nigeria. Commercially, its position is excellent, inasmuch as it enjoys 
all the advantages of magnificent waterways. Its area is approximately 255,700 
square miles of which the greater part lies in and north of the obtuse angle 
formed by the two main waterways, the Niger and the Benue. In the north-east 
corner is that perplexing inland sea, Lake Chad ; while the north and north-west 
portions practically adjoin the southern limits of the Sahara. These fundamental 
features must be borne in mind in connection with much of the entomological 
matter which follows. 
The headquarters of the Protectorate are situated at Zungeru, which is now 
joined by railway with Lagos, the capital and main seaport of Southern Nigeria, 
and also with Kano, an ancient and important city in the extreme north. It is, 
however, more a political than a commercial centre. 
Lokoja, situated as it is at the junction of the Benue and Niger, must always 
remain an important commercial and geographical centre, though of recent years, 
owing to the extension of the railway from Lagos to Zungeru and the north, it is 
somewhat less important than formerly. All heavy transport must pass up the 
Niger, and the only inlet and outlet for the Southern Provinces, Kabba and 
Bassa, as well as for the Baro-Kano Railway and the whole Benue system, Muri, 
Yola, and Bornu, must therefore culminate at Lokoja, which consequently, as at 
present, must remain the headquarters of the river traffic and a main commercial 
centre of Northern Nigeria. 
The Baro-Kano Railway, as the name implies, joins the towns of Baro, on the 
Niger near the mouth of the Bako River, and Kano near the desert region of 
the north, by way of Minna, where it joins the Northern Nigerian extension of 
the Lagos Railway. Consequently, Baro must, as trade extends, become an 
important commercial centre, as it is the extreme limit to which ocean-going 
steamers can ascend at the season of high water in the Niger. 
Therefore Zungeru, as the headquarters of the Protectorate ; Lokoja, as the 
commercial and river centre for the Southern provinces and those of the Benue 
system; and Baro, as the last port-of-call for ocean-going steamers and the 
terminus of the Baro-Kano Railway, must always be the chief centres of 
European activity, and, as such, must be the primary foci to which attention 
should be directed in preventing the dissemination of disease. If at any time 
any of these places should become sleeping sickness centres (as seemed likely 
recently in the case of Baro), the infection might spread to Europeans with 
disastrous results. As much, however, has already been done to prevent this, 
and as each locality will be considered in detail later on, it is unnecessary to enter 
further into this question here beyond pointing out that geographical and topo- 
graphical position must be considered in the selection of sites for towns, and in 
the choice of routes, railway or otherwise, in opening up new country. These 
