18 
TSETSE AND THE ZIMB. 
of water. The oxen were unyoked, and at once rushed off 
westward towards a river which afterwards was found in 
that direction. The oxen, in their rush towards the river, 
had passed through a small patch of trees haunted by these 
flies, the bite of which, although producing no more pain to 
man than the sting of the mosquito, is nearly certain death 
to horse, ox, or dog. The animal is not startled by the bite, 
but in a few days the eyes and nose begin to run, the coat to 
stare, a swelling appears under the jaw, and sometimes at the 
navel ; emaciation commences, and at last purging comes on, 
and the creatures dies in a state of extreme exhaustion. 
Sometimes the disease is months in running its course ; at 
others, especially when the animal is in good condition, stag- 
gering and blindness come on soon after the infliction of the 
bite, as if the brain were affected. The strangest part of 
the whole is that the poison affects neither the mule, the ass, 
nor the goat, nor yet calves while sucking. The wild animals, 
too, appear to possess an immunity from ill effects, at least 
zebras, buffaloes, and antelopes are seen feeding quietly in 
the midst of tsetse, although here it is possible that death 
may follow' after a time, either naturally or by the agency of 
some of the Carnivora, to which herbivorous animals generally 
fall victims as soon as their activity diminishes. The appa- 
rent inadequacy of so insignificant a cause as the bite of a 
small fly to produce such terrible effects, and of such an 
anomalous character, made some of the party imagine that 
the mischief must be caused by some poisonous plant. But 
one of them settled that point by riding a horse up to a 
small hill infested by the insect, and remaining only long 
enough to take a view of the country and catch some speci- 
mens of tsetse on the animal, which w as not suffered to graze. 
In ten days the horse was dead. The adventure we have 
just related cost Dr. Livingstone forty-three of his own 
oxen. Fortunately, they lasted out till he reached Sebituane, 
who received him with a warm welcome, but added, “Your 
cattle are all bitten by the tsetse and will certainly die; but 
never mind, I have oxen and will give you as many as you 
need.’ 5 Yet the animals had been carefully watched, and 
wdiile under the superintendence of the travellers scarcely a 
score of flies had ever settled on them. 
Bruce, the Abyssinian traveller, gives a somewhat similar ac- 
count of a fly called by him the Zimb. Is it one and the same? 
The Ethiopic translation of the word has it tsaltsalga, the 
former part of which resembles tsetse. Bruce says, that “ this 
insect has not been described by any naturalist. It is in 
size very little larger than a bee, of a thicker proportion, and 
