vFii A PLAGUE OF "TSETSE" FLIES 159 



touches a nerve) closely resembles the sting of a wasp 

 or bee, as it will cause one when seated to spring up 

 as if pricked with a needle. As they are possessed 

 of a long probe, a thick flannel shirt offers no 

 protection against these most abominable of all 

 created insects — direct descendants, no doubt, of the 

 flies that plagued Egypt. Though, during 1872-73, 

 I had hunted elephants on foot in fly - infested 

 countries, yet never had I met with them in sufficient 

 numbers to cause much annoyance ; but along the 

 Chobe river, during the months of September and 

 October, hunger, thirst, fatigue, and all the other 

 hardships that must of necessity be endured by the 

 elephant-hunter, sank into insignificance as compared 

 with the continuous unceasing irritation caused by the 

 bites of the " tsetse " flies by day, and three or four 

 varieties of mosquitoes by night. What a glorious 

 field lies open there for an enthusiastic entomologist ! 

 I think that this plague of "tsetse" flies, along the 

 Chobe and Zambesi, is due to the enormous numbers 

 of buffaloes that frequent their banks, as they always 

 seem very partial to those animals. The bite of 

 this remarkable insect, as is well known, though 

 fatal to all kinds of domestic animals, is innocuous 

 to every species of game, and to man. A general 

 belief exists, that amongst domestic animals, the 

 donkey, dog, and goat are exceptions to this rule, 

 but this Is a mistake, for I have seen all three die 

 from the effect of its bites. That all the natives 

 living in the " fly " country possess both dogs and 

 goats, I admit, but these have been bred there from 

 generation to generation, and have become acclima- 

 tised, whereas, if you take either a goat or a dog 

 that has been bred outside the " fly " country, into 

 a district where the " tsetse " is found, it will die in 



