A suspected pneumonia outbreak in 1912 shook the Batawana capital at Tsau. The outbreak was so severe that in the month of August alone it claimed over 40 lives. And by September a decision was reached to relocate. Theories ran wide and wild about the cause of the deaths, the pneumonia theory being only advanced at a later stage.
Whatever the disease was, authorities believed its effects were exacerbated by the unhygienic condition of the capital. Tsao lying, as she did, on the edge of the already receding Thaoge River, was said to be in a most undesirable state. The following quotation gives the picture,"Tsau... is on the extreme edge and end of the swamps which are stagnant for most of the year, and in the summer season when drying up and the swamp vegetation decays and mud is exposed, unhealthy smells and atmosphere are present and such swamp with its vegetation becomes the breeding ground for mosquitoes. In addition to this the veldt for miles around consists of close thorn bush scrub which obstructs the breeze and is also insanitary".
