Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/268

 largely infested by the tsetse fly, whose bite is fatal, especially to such domestic animals as the horse and ox. The Limpopo Valley throughout the whole of its lower and middle course, as far as the district to the north-west of Pretoria, roughly indicates the range of this terrible scourge. On the south side of the river the infested zone varies in width from six to about eighty miles, and on entering this fatal region travellers are obliged to outspan their teams of oxen and dismount from their horses and send all these animals back to the plateau. in the districts adjacent to this zone elephants are perfectly aware that in order to

escape pursuit by mounted hunters they have only to place themselves under the protection of the tsetse fly. Hence they often take refuge in the riverain tracts along the course of the Limpopo, where the sportsman can follow them only on foot, or else mounted on horses with a shaggy coat thick enough to prevent the sting from penetrating to the hide. It is commonly supposed that the pestiferous insect will disappear from the country together with the large game, especially the buffalo and certain species of antelopes, with which it is always found associated. Travellers mention certain districts from which the formidable tsetse has already