fellow was very dirty, and while Major Owen went to Unyoro he
was left for a. month at Port Raymond. When we returned there
we found that he could not walk, and, having examined him, I
discovered that he was full o f jiggers. I got a Soudanese to
take them out, and the first day he got two hundred and eighty
out o f the hoy’s body. H is feet, his toes, knees, hands, fingers,
elbows, shoulders, and back were full of them, and when he was
brought to me after the operation he was a mass o f blood, and
it took me over an hour to bandage him.
A s I have explained, the natives dig the jiggers out with a
pointed bit o f wood, breaking the skin all round the body o f the
insect. T h e result is that the skin gets hardened and mortified,
and when fresh jiggers get in the same spot they cannot be
discovered till they have grown quite large, and often they are so
deep in the flesh, having crept in by one o f the crevices left in
the mortified skin, that a hole half-an-inch deep has to be made
before they can be got at. Th e result is usually a deep ulcer,
dirt gets in, and the native medicines they apply to it, consisting
o f all sorts o f filth, bring on gangrene, causing death or at least
the loss o f a limb. In many instances I have had to perform
amputations o f toes in order to save a man from the effects o f
gangrene, and in all such cases I found iodoform the most effective
antiseptic to prevent ulceration after the jigger had been extracted.
In fact, the natives soon learned its u s e ; and when I arrived in
Karagwe, a native chief, having heard that a white man had
landed, came from a long distance to ask me for yellow medicine.
A brother o f his, he said, had some o f the yellow dawa (medicine)
given to him by a German officer, and if I would give him some
he would give me anything I liked. I gave him a little iodoform,
and in the evening his katikiro (prime minister) came also to beg
for some o f it. I had obtained canoes from the chief to take me
to Uganda, and being short o f iodoform I did not care to spare
any more; so I made a mixture o f iodoform.and sulphate o f
zinc. T h e katikiro, however, soon returned, and complained that
his medicine was not as yellow as the one I had given to the
chief. I replied that he could not expect the same medicine as
a big chief, and he quite understood the distinction.
T o conclude, I think that I have done my duty in pointing out
the serious and new danger that threatens South Africa. I feel
sorry to appear as a prophet o f evil, but perhaps my warning
may enable the Government to take steps to check the impending
danger. I cannot think o f any measure that may stop the
in v a sion ; but I should advise the responsible authorities to have
the subject thoroughly studied, so that when this new plague
makes its appearance it may not take the people unawares, and
that .proper remedies may be known beforehand, and precautions
recommended to avoid the spreading o f the pest. From
Central America and the West Indies, whence the jigger comes,
considerable information can be obtained on the subject, and
measures should be taken to obtain it without delay. My
experience makes me look upon the jigger as the greatest curse
that has ever afflicted Africa, and I hope that my warning will
be taken up and turned to practical account.