37 8 
BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA 
Luangwa River from the Zambezi to the verge of the Nyasa-Tanganyika 
plateau. It is found on part of the upper course of the River Luapula and 
on the shores of Lake Mweru, but is absent from the greater part of the country 
round Bangweolo. It is most abundant on the south coast of Tanganyika, 
disappearing, however, as soon as the slopes of the Nyasa-Tanganyika plateau 
are reached. OnLakeNyasa 
it is absent from almost the 
entirety of the east coast. 
On the west coast it is met 
with between Deep Bay on 
the north and the River Bua 
on the south, some patches 
in between, however, being 
free from it. From about 
Kotakota and the Marimba 
district it is absent. It re¬ 
appears again south of the 
Marimba in the northern 
part of the coast lands of 
the Central Angoniland dis- 
^ trict. From the south coast 
j|C. w of Lake Nyasa it is almost 
entirely absent, but it is 
found again on a small 
portion of the Upper Shire. 
In the low-lying country 
round Lake Chilwa up to 
the slopes of Mlanje and the hills near Zomba it 
is present. On the Central Shire at Chikwawa 
and Katunga there is no tsetse, but in the Elephant 
Marsh below it abounds, as also in much of the 
Ruo district and in the district of the Lower 
Shire. Always, however, when the land rises to 
3000 feet and beyond the tsetse disappears. This 
the tsetse fly insect has a great dislike to water and a still 
stronger dislike to a congeries of human habita¬ 
tions. In consequence it is possible to convey horses and cattle up the rivers 
without the least danger of their being bitten, as long as they remain on 
the boat anchored in mid-stream. They are also quite safe in the middle 
of any collection of huts or in any town. It is a fortunate thing that there 
is no tsetse at Katunga or Chikwawa on the Central Shire, as live-stock 
can be brought the whole way by water to this place from the mouth of the 
Zambezi, 1 landed there and sent up to Blantyre, and can thence be conveyed by 
various routes which are free from tsetse-fly to the Upper Shire and so on to 
Lake Nyasa. Another important fact to be borne in mind is that the tsetse-fly 
does not bite at night, therefore if a tsetse-haunted district must be crossed it 
should be done at night time—by moonlight if possible. It is said also that 
smearing the bodies of the animals with cow-dung will repel the insect. One 
bite of a tsetse-fly is not necessarily of much account, or even two ; it is where 
the animal is bitten three or more times that the issue is certainly fatal, though 
1 The tsetse is apparently absent from Chinde and Quelimane and much of the Zambezi Delta. 
W 
