in the course of a few hours; but it happens, also, that the chase lasts for a whole day, or even longer. All depends on the ground. If stony or rocky, the men have an immense advantage over the animal, who, under such circumstances, soon becomes foot-sore, lies down repeatedly, and, after a while, is found unable to rise, when he is quickly dispatched. The women and children carry water on these occasions for the hunters, so that, should the animal prove very enduring, his pursuers may not be necessitated to give up the chase for want of that indispensable necessary.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
During my hunting excursions along the Teoge, I encountered, for the first time, that most extraordinary of insects, the tsetse (glossina morsitans, Westw.).[1]
TSETSE FLY. Among the several scourges to which the traveler is subjected in the South African wilderness, one of the greatest is this insect; not, it is true, as to the wayfarer's own person, for he himself escapes very nearly unscathed, but as regards the horses and cattle.
The tsetse is found chiefly in the bush or among the reeds, but rarely in the
- ↑ For a scientific description of this insect, see "Proceedings of the Zoological Society," No. ccxvii.
