formed tlie operation, and safely landed several flies
that were still kicking. * But mind, Bacheet,’ I
continued, ‘that you wipe the tea-spoon first, to
be sure that it is clean! ’ On the following morning
at breakfast we covered up the cups with
saucers to prevent , accidents; but to our astonishment
Bacheet, who was in waiting, suddenly took
a tea-spoon from the table, wiped it carefully with
the corner of the table-cloth, and stooping down
beneath the bed, most carefully saved from drowning,
with the tea-spoon, several flies that were in
the last extremity within a vessel by no means
adapted for a spoon. Perfectly satisfied with the
result, he carefully rewiped the tea-spoon upon
the table-cloth, and replaced it in its proper position.
‘ Oh Bacheet! Bacheet! you ignoramus, you extraordinary
and impossible animal!5 However, there
was no help for it—the boy thought he was doing
the right thing exactly.
“ September 1.—The animals are worried almost
to death by the countless flies, especially by that
species that drives the camels from the country.
This peculiar fly is about the size of a wasp, with
an orange-coloured body, with black and white
rings; the proboscis is terrific; it is double, and
appears to be disproportioned, being two-thirds the
length of the entire insect. When this fly attacks
an animal, or man, it pierces the skin instantaneously,
like the prick of a red-hot needle driven
deep into the flesh, at the same time the insect
exerts every muscle of its body by buzzing with
its wings as it buries the instrument to its greatest
depth. The blood starts from the wound immediately,
and continues to flow' for a considerable
time ; this is an attraction to other flies in great
numbers, many of which would lay their eggs
upon the wound.
“ I much prefer the intense heat of summer to
the damp of the rainy season, which breeds all
kinds of .vermin. During the hot season the
nights are cool and delightful, there is not one
drop of dew, and we live entirely in the open
air beneath the shade of a tree in the day, and
under a roof of glittering stars at night. The guns
never rust, although lying upon the ground, and we
are as independent as the antelopes of the desert, any
bush affording a home within its limit of shadow.
During the rainy season hunting and travelling
would be equally impossible; the rifles would constantly
miss fire. The mud is in most places knee-
deep, and a malignant fever would shortly settle
the hunter. The rains cease early in September,
after which we are to expect a complete vapour-
bath until the end of October, by which time
the fiery sun will have evaporated the moisture
from the sodden earth ; that interval will be the
most unhealthy season.
“ As this fertile country can depend upon three
months’ periodical rain, from the middle of June
until September, there is no reason for unproduc