182 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQUATOR. 
can wear in the heat of an African summer. The sting 
is so. terribly sharp that I have often jumped up with the 
sudden pain, which was as if a pin had been stuck sav- 
agely into my person; but the bite of this insect, if pain- 
ful, does not last like that of the nchouna. You need not 
think for a moment that the day is over with the flies, 
and that one is going torest. ‘Toward four o’clock, when 
the sun begins to go down and lays hidden back of the 
hills, the iboco, nchouna, and ibolai disappear. The agoo- 
guat, as I have said before, makes again its appearance 
to plague and annoy; toward sunset they retire for parts 
unknown to me, and several varieties of musquitoes make 
their appearance to remind man that, he is made of flesh 
and blood. In some parts of the country they are very 
plentiful, and absolutely terrible, but I am happy to say 
that on the banks of the Ovenga, where the flies I have 
described to you are very abundant, the musquitoes are 
not so very numerous. The rainy season is the time 
when all those flies are most abundant; the dry season is 
almost free from them, and in many places they then be- 
come almost unknown. 
Such is, I assure you, a faithful picture of the flies of 
that region. The best way to get rid of them is to keep 
in motion. If youstand still they are sure to come upon 
you. 
You will ask yourselves, How can people live in such 
a country? It is wonderful how one gets accustomed to 
snakes, ants, flies, musquitoes, scorpions, and centipedes. 
To be sure, they are not pleasant companions. 
