WILD LIFE ACROSS THE WORLD 



in life is to lay its eggs under j^our toe-nails. The 

 irritation which results on the larvae hatching out is 

 appalling, almost indescribable. If the foot is not 

 attended to in time blood poisoning is sure to set in. 

 Some white men — those on the coast who are new to 

 the country — go to doctors to have the pest removed ; 

 others call in the native, who invariably operates with 

 a sharpened splinter of hard wood. The savage knows 

 nothing of science, but he does know the jigger and 

 makes only a small puncture. Dogs as well as human 

 beings are attacked by this wretched insect, and suffer 

 terribly at times. 



The polishing of scraps of rhino hide is another 

 task which furnishes the porter or carrier with occupa- 

 tion when he is not on the march. He will spend 

 an immense amount of time and take a great deal 

 of trouble over the fashioning of some small article, 

 and then offer it to you for an utterly trivial sum. 

 Normally, of course, the carriers have not much leisure, 

 for each has his duties, fetching either water or wood 

 for camp, and there is the food to be cooked. 



When there is meat the camp is usually a happy 

 one, though the process of cooking employed would 

 not lead a stranger to expect that the finished product 

 would be particularly palatable. As a rule, the flesh 

 is merely cut into rough pieces which are threaded 

 on a stick, much as cat's-meat is treated at home. 

 The end of the stick is driven into the ground so that 



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