There are large tribes which can not keep either cattle or sheep because the tsetse abounds in their country. But it is only fatal to domestic animals, as wild animals feed undisturbed in parts infested by the insect. Yet many of them, such as oxen and buffaloes, horses and zebras, dogs and jackals, &c., possess somewhat the same nature. Moreover, it bites man, and no danger follows. The sensation experienced has not inaptly been likened to the sting of a flea.[90] The problem to be solved is, what quality exists in domestication which renders domestic animals obnoxious to this poison? “Is man not as much a domestic animal as a dog? Is it the tsetse at all which kills the animal?”
Captain Vardon, of the Indian army, one of the earlier pioneers of the more interior parts of Southern Africa, was among the first to decide the point; for he rode his horse up a hill infested by tsetse, and in twenty days his doubts were removed by the death of his horse.
According to the statement of the celebrated explorers, Messrs. Oswell and Livingstone, who were severe sufferers by the tsetse, the following symptoms are observed in the ox when bitten: the eye runs, the glands under the throat swell, the coat loses its gloss, there is a peculiar flaccidity of the muscles generally, and emaciation commences, which proceeds unchecked until—perhaps months after the bite—purging supervenes, and the animal perishes of exhaustion. Some die soon after the bite is inflicted, especially if they are in good condition, or should rain fall; but, in general, the process of emaciation goes on for many weeks. In some cases the animals become blind before they die.[91]
“From what I have seen of the tsetse,” writes Mr. Oswell to me, “I believe that three or four flies are sufficient to kill a full-grown ox. We examined about twenty of ours that were bitten and died, and the appearances were similar in all. On raising the skin, we perceived a glairy appearance of the muscles and flesh, which were much wasted. The stomach and intestines were healthy; heart, lungs, and liver, sometimes all, but invariably one or the other, much diseased. The heart, in particular, attracted our attention. It was no longer a firm and muscular organ, but collapsed readily on compression, and had the appearance of flesh that had been steeped in water. The blood of the whole carcass was greatly diminished in quantity. Not more than twenty pints (a small pailful) were obtained from the largest ox, and this thick and albuminous; the hands, when plunged into it, came out free of stain. The poison would seem to grow in the blood, and, through the blood, affect the vital organs.
“A curious feature in the case is, that dogs, though reared on milk, die if bitten,[92] while calves and other young sucking animals are safe as long as they suck. Man, and all the wild animals, escape with impunity. Can the poison be alkaline, and neutralized by the acid?”
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
The Crocodile.—An Englishman killed by one of these Monsters.—The Omoroanga Vavarra River.—Hardships.—Beautiful Scenery.—Lecholètébè’s Treachery.—The Reed-ferry.
As we journeyed up the Teoge, we frequently observed crocodiles basking in the sun in the more secluded parts of the river. One day, while trying to trace a wounded antelope, I nearly trod on one of these monsters who was fast asleep. My foot was already descending on his tail before I was aware of him. Without daring to move, I gently raised the rifle to my shoulder, and, with a well-directed ball behind the ear, killed him on the spot.
One does not often hear of crocodiles in these parts seizing on human beings when immersed in water, which would seem to prove that these animals are “man-eaters” from the compulsion of hunger rather than from habit. Indeed, I have been assured by several persons that there is little danger of being attacked, provided one makes a great noise previously to entering the water. Accidents, however, do occur. Only a few years ago an English gentleman, Mr. R⸺, was carried off by one of these horrid creatures. He and his companion, Mr. M⸺, who told me the sad story, had encamped on the banks of the Zouga, and, as a number of water-fowl were seen disporting themselves on the stream, Mr. R⸺ proceeded there in the hope of obtaining a shot. He soon succeeded in killing several, and among the rest a Muscovy duck; but he was unable to secure it for want of a boat.