GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 
253 
bad, and its unceasing hum is almost more calculated to drive a 
new-comer to despair than its painful burning sting. 
At certain times its worm-like larvse abound in all standing 
waters, swarm in the drinking water, which can only be drunk when 
strained through a cloth, or, as is the usual practice with the poorer 
classes, through the coat-sleeve held between the pitcher and the 
lips. Vermin are only too abundantly represented; fleas, bugs, and 
lice of every kind abound, besides scorpions, tarantulas, centipedes, 
and leeches, and those implacable tormentors of animals, horse¬ 
flies and gnats. The monotonous character of the whole country is 
perceptible throughout its flora and fauna, for in almost every class 
of the animal world the number of varieties is comparatively small. 
