124 PROBABLY THE ZIMB. 
viciously threw his head between his forelegs, 
and at the same time elevated his hind ones into 
the air; the whole being performed with such 
sudden and savage violence that I was pitched 
clean out of the saddle: boxes, bottles, bags, to- 
gether with all my insect treasures, lay scattered 
over the prairie, and ere I could regain my feet I 
had the satisfaction of seeing him put his legs 
into the bridle-reins, drag it clean off his head, 
and, with a snort that sounded mightily like a 
derisive horse laugh, he galloped off, leaving me 
to my own devices. I mention this little adven- 
ture to show how terribly these pests can madden 
an animal. 
From an intimacy by no means sought, or on 
my part cultivated, with the Tabanida, or Breeze- 
flies, I am disposed to think the fly called Zimb, 
and described by Bruce, belonged to this family, 
and was not an Gstrus, as many have supposed. 
Speaking of the Zimb, in reference to the camel 
and elephant: ‘When the first of these animals 
are attacked, its body, head, and legs break out 
- into large bosses, which swell, burst and putrefy, 
to its certain destruction.’ Just such effects have 
I again and again seen amongst horses and mules. 
One mule we had to abandon on the prairie (a 
disabled foot preventing its travelling any farther) 
——E— 
