1 6 to 17 hands h ig h ; and I heard that the Sot oka, as rinderpest
is called in that part o f Africa, had done little or no damage.
T h is cattle is the only kind I found north o f the Zambezi
belonging to the species without a hump. T h e y have been
imported by the Watusi, a variety o f the Wahima tribe, inhabiting
the region west o f L ak e Victoria Nyanza.
In Unyamwezi rinderpest had been most virulent, and had
also attacked Usikuma, sparing however the Burru country
between Unyamwezi and K ilim a Njaro. But at the end o f 18 9 3
it had entirely disappeared from Unyamwezi and Usikuma, where
it had passed two years previously.
Uganda had been also visited by the plague about the same
time. During the year 18 9 1 it swept away the whole pf the
cattle o f the Masai, and destroyed every buffalo in that:region.
T h is plague played there a most important part in the politics of
the country. In former times the Masai Elmoran (warriors)
never touched any food but beef. Ev en when they were out on
a raiding expedition, and found themselves short o f food, they
preferred to starve rather than eat game or.m e a t that was not
beef. When their cattle'had been, destroyed by rinderpest, they
had to eat porridge, and were glad to sell a donkey for a couple
o f pounds o f meal. T h is seems to have degraded them in their
own eyes, and to have broken their proud . spirit. In 1894,
■however, no trace of the disease was found in Uganda or in the
Masai country, and the natives were gradually recovering their
cattle. I have not been able to trace the origin o f the plague
further north, but it seems to have altogether disappeared after
a period o f two years wherever it has passed.
My own impression is that no precaution will be able to stop
its invasion o f the Cape Colony unless all traffic is stopped ;
even so, game will carry it about.1 T h a t it affects donkeys I
have had undoubted proof, having lost a donkey from it in
Central Africa in 1 8 9 3 ; and having compared my recollections
with the description published in the Bechuanaland Government
Gazette, I find that the symptoms which my donkey showed
were absolutely those o f rinderpest. So far as I can see,
rinderpest has travelled at the rate o f i f miles per day, and the
question is whether it is not a mistake to try and check its
1 This was written in 1896, and has proved correct.
566
progress. I f it is bound to invade the Colony, is it worth
spending enormous sums to postpone the evil ? There is this
to say in favour o f the measures adopted—that if it c a n , be
kept off for a period o f from a year and a half to two years,
by which time it appears probable that it will have died out in
Rhodesia, the latter province will be able to supply the South
with meat.
But there is another plague, quite as serious, that threatens
South Africa— a plague that nothing will stop, and that will
seriously affect the labour market—I am speaking o f the jiggers.
T h is is an insect o f the flea family, indigenous to South America.
I t was brought to West Africa by a slave ship. T h e jigger, or
Pulex penetrans, is a small flea that burrows in the flesh, chiefly
o f the feet, choosing in preference the neighbourhood o f the
toe-nails. T h e female penetrates under the skin with its head
only sticking o u t ; this head is so small that it can only be
detected with a magnifying-glass, and cannot be seen in the skin
of a black man. A t first it causes no pain, but after a couple of
days it gives the same sensation as a small thorn. After five to
six days the body o f the insect reaches the size o f a pea, and is
full o f eggs ; the pain is then very great, and when the insect has
been extracted its place is marked by a deep ulcer, that usually
gets badly inflamed, and often brings on blood-poisoning. Th e
natives dig it out with a pointed piece o f wood, tearing the skin
all round to make a hole large enough to allow the body o f the
insect to come out without breaking the pocket o f eggs. T he y
imagine that i f they break the pocket, the eggs will generate
under their skin. T he y are right in a sense, as they possess no
antiseptics; and I have myself seen a fellow out o f whom two
hundred jiggers were e x tra c ted ! But even when a hole has been
made large enough to allow the insect to be removed, it is most
painful to get it out, as it is fastened to the ulcer it has produced.
T h e best way is to open the place where the insect is with a
lancet, and then to syringe the wound well with a sublimate
lotion. T h e body o f the insect having been removed with a
forceps, the wound must again be well syringed, and carbolic oil
applied to it. In order to avoid these pests getting to a large
size, white men ought to have their feet carefully examined twice
daily. When a jigger is discovered, it can be easily removed