As it proved the two cobs had escaped almost by a miracle; but the adventure was a warning to the party not to venture further, for they had evidently made their way into a part of the country where this terrible enemy to horses abounds.
Chapter Forty Five.
A Flight from a Fly.
There was no time to lose, for, to the dismay of all, Peter announced that he had found tsetse fly that afternoon upon the two horses that had been grazing near the waggon.
“Three horses gone, boys,” said Mr Rogers. “It is a bad job; but it would have been worse if it had happened to your pets. We must be well on the way back into a more wholesome country before day, so lie down and have a rest at once. The General or the boys shall go on with you, so that you may try to save your nags. I’ll come on with the rest.”
“But your horses don’t seem any the worse for it, father,” said Dick.
“No, my boy, and it may not show for days; but the poison will work, and they will gradually grow weaker and weaker. They are all doomed.”
“But is there no cure for it, father?”