138 EFFECTS OF TSETSE-BITE ON MAX. 



and sluggish, resting on the under side of some leaf or 

 blade of grass ; when forced to take wing they may then 

 be easily caught. 



" Even at nine o'clock tliey are not very active, and 

 fly about with a peculiar buzzing sound ; with the heat of 

 the day they become a real annoyance to the traveller, 

 constantly biting him on the hands, face, or neck, 

 dextrously evading a blow, and again alighting on the 

 very spot from which they have been driven. If per- 

 mitted, they will gorge themselves with blood and become 

 unable to fly to a distance. On man, the efl:ects are not 

 more than follow an ordinary mosquito bite, redness, 

 swelling, and local irritation remaining for about an hour, 

 varying in amount according to the state of the individual. 

 In itself the bite is not so severe as that of the larger 

 Tabanidae. 



" By night I have never been bitten by ' Tsetse,' nor 

 do they fly about after sunset. They are most numerous 

 and troublesome in the hot, sultry weather before rains. 



" When once attention has been directed to the fly, it 

 cannot again be overlooked, although, from its common 

 and insignificant appearance, othei's might easily be 

 confounded with it by those who have not before expe- 

 rienced it. There is, therefore, more danger of its 

 geographical range being exaggerated than under-esti- 

 mated. Wherever I have found this fly, it has been 

 accompanied by the buffalo or elephant ; the native dog 

 .and goat are the only domestic mammals I have found in 

 a country infested by it." 



" Although always found in company with large game, 

 the fly does not follow it everywhere; other circumstances, 

 still unknown, check its universal distribution. 



" Between Sesheke and Linyanti there is plenty of 

 game, yet the fly is limited to certain narrow spots, and 

 in like manner between Sesheke and the Victoria Falls. 

 So are these falls shut out from the south by only a 

 naiTOW belt of ' fly ' land, which may be crossed at night. 



" As much of what we know on these points rests on 

 native information, I would remark that where the person 

 obtaining it enjoys the confidence of the people and can 

 speak v.'ith them in a common language, without depending 



