Chap. VI. ILLNESS OF DR. KIRK. 1 47 



our heads like a swarm of bees. They are very cunning, 

 and when intending to bite, alight so gently that their 

 presence is not perceived till they thrust in their lance- 

 like proboscis. The bite is acute, but the pain is over in 

 a moment ; it is followed by a little of the disagreeable 

 itching of the musquito's bite. This fly invariably kills 

 all domestic animals except goats and donkeys ; man and 

 the wild animals escape. We ourselves were severely 

 bitten on this pass, and so were our donkeys, but neither 

 suffered from any after effects. 



Water is scarce in the Mburuma pass, except during the 

 rainy season. We however halted beside some fine springs 

 in the bed of the now dry rivulet, Podebode, which is 

 continued down to the end of the pass, and yields water 

 at intervals in pools. Here we remained a couple of days 

 in consequence of the severe illness of Dr. Kirk. He had 

 several times been attacked by fever ; and observed that 

 when we were on the cool heights he was comfortable, 

 but when we happened to descend from a high to a lower 

 altitude, he felt chilly, though the temperature in the 

 latter case was 25° higher than it was above; he had 

 been trying different medicines of reputed efficacy with 

 a view to ascertain whether other combinations might 

 not be superior to the preparation we generally used ; 

 in halting by this water he suddenly became blind, and 

 unable to stand from faintness. The men, with great 

 alacrity, prepared a grassy bed, on which we laid our 

 companion, with the sad forebodings which only those 

 who have tended the sick in a wild country can realize. 

 We feared that in experimenting he had overdrugged 

 himself ; but we gave him a dose of our fever pills : on 

 the third day he rode the one of the two donkeys that 

 would allow itself to be mounted, and on the sixth he 

 marched as well as any of us. This case is mentioned 

 in order to illustrate what we have often observed, that 



