. Lake Ngami, or, Explorations and discoveries during four years' wanderings in the wilds of southwestern Africa . women and children carry water on these occasions forthe hunters, so that, should the animal prove very enduring,his pursuers may not be necessitated to give up the chase forwant of that indispensable necessary. CHAPTER XXXVII. tsetse Fly.—Confined to particular Spots.—Its Size.—Its Destructive-ness. — Fatal to Domestic Animals. — Symptoms in the Ox whenbitten by the Tsetse. During my hunting excursions along the Teoge, I en-countered, for the first time, that most extra
. Lake Ngami, or, Explorations and discoveries during four years' wanderings in the wilds of southwestern Africa . women and children carry water on these occasions forthe hunters, so that, should the animal prove very enduring,his pursuers may not be necessitated to give up the chase forwant of that indispensable necessary. CHAPTER XXXVII. tsetse Fly.—Confined to particular Spots.—Its Size.—Its Destructive-ness. — Fatal to Domestic Animals. — Symptoms in the Ox whenbitten by the Tsetse. During my hunting excursions along the Teoge, I en-countered, for the first time, that most extraordinary of in-sects, the tsetse {glossina morsitans, Westw.).* Among the sev-eral scourges to whichthe traveler is subject-ed in the South Afri-can wilderness, one ofthe greatest is this in-sect ; not, it is true, asto the wayfarers ownperson, for he himselfescapes very nearly un-scathed, but as regardsthe horses and tsetse is foundchiefly in the bush or among the reeds, but rarely in the * For a scientific description of this insect, see Proceedings of theZoological Society, No. TSETSE FLT. LOCALITY SIZE DESTRUCTIVENESS. 469 open country. It is confined to particular spots, and is nev-er known to shift its haunts. Thus cattle may be seen graz-ing securely on one side of a river, while the opposite bankswarms with the insect. Should the natives, who are wellacquainted with localities frequented by the fly, have occa-sion to change their cattle-posts, and are obliged to passthrough tracts of country where it exists, they choose, I amtold, a moonlight winters night, as, during the hours of restin the cold season, it does not bite. In size the tsetse is somewhat less than the common bluefly that settles on meat, but its wings are longer. Yet, thoughso small and insignificant in appearance, its bite carries withit a poison equal to that of the most deadly reptile. Manyis the traveler who, from his draft-oxen and horses havingbeen destroyed by this pes
Size: 1720px × 1453px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubjecthunting, booksubjectnaturalhistory
