TREK AND CAMP. .213 



Sleeping Sickness. 



This sickness very rarely appears to attack Europeans. I have met officials 

 calmly residing in sleeping-sickness areas and receiving only a modest salary 

 of ;^20o or so a year, when one would imagine that ;^2ooo would be a poor 

 enough remuneration for the risk run. I have seen only a very few times the 

 fly which is the cause of the sickness. It is to all intents and purposes a 

 tsetse fly. A favourite trick of the tsetse is to settle on the coat collar and 

 then hop quietly on to the back of the neck, where it will not be noticed till it 

 bites. If it were to alight from flight straight on to the skin it would be felt and 

 driven away. So whenever I have been in a known haunt of the sleeping-sickness fly 

 (as when in a canoe on the Nile) I have always fastened a handkerchief at the back 

 of my head and neck, tucked into my hat and also under my coat. 



Perhaps many people who have seen more of the fly will laugh at my precautions, 

 but I must say that I think the risk of being gored or stamped to death by an elephant 

 is a much more preferable risk to run than that of being killed by a small fly. 



Sandflies, Horsejlies. 



These flies and a multitude of other stinging and biting flies I will pass over for 

 want of adequate terms in which to describe them. 



The Jigger. 



This pest generally makes its presence felt by a feeling as of a chafe or blister on 

 the foot. It is generally only after it is extracted that there is any itching. However, 

 if it has entered a part of the foot which does not rub the boot perhaps the itching 

 will then be the first symptom of its presence. Directly there is an itching or hot 

 feeling about the foot, look carefully for a little black spot surrounded by a white 

 patch. When found, remove the skin from over this spot carefully with a needle and 

 scoop out the interior, which consists of a little bag of eggs. When extracted, put in 

 a drop of carbolic oil or some disinfectant and the operation is completed. 



I have never suffered the misfortune of awaking suddenly in the middle of the 

 night to find myself covered with siafu, the large biting ant, but I should imagine it to 

 be a most unpleasant experience. I have, nevertheless, often discovered an army of 

 them advancing on my camp at night or commencing to invade the tent. The best 

 way to get rid of them on such occasions is to watch which way they are trekking, 

 then light a fire in the way or strew red embers across their path. They will then 

 turn round and trek back again. Sometimes you will find that during an hour or two 



