A PLAGUE OF FLIES 



in it. It is extraordinary to think that in spite of 

 the noisy porters and the confusion on the arrival of 

 the caravan, she had remained hidden within fifteen 

 yards, and had only flown away when I nearly 

 stepped on her. In the afternoon I strolled round 

 in the bush, and was lucky to shoot two guinea- 

 fowl quite close to camp. There was but little game, 

 although here and there I came across the monstrous 

 spoor of elephant, which showed them to have 

 trekked westward a month or so aeo. 



Practically this whole district, from Seyera Swamp 

 southwards, is avoided by the Somali, although it 

 possesses some very rich pasture land, because of 

 a certain kind of fly ( Tabanus africa7tus) which infests 

 its forests. They are said to cause fever among 

 cattle and camels, and certainly my own camels 

 suffered severely here, and large fires of green wood 

 had to be lighted, in the smoke of which they used 

 to stand, refusing to feed, and obviously terribly 

 tormented by these flies. I believe, however, that 

 it is the irritation caused by the bites of these insects, 

 rather than any poison they carry, which causes the 

 fever. 



80 



