ey are
very cunning, and when intending to bite, alight so gently that their
presence is not perceived till they thrust in their lance-like proboscis.
The bite is acute, but the pain is over in a moment; it is followed by a
little of the disagreeable itching of the mosquito's bite. This fly
invariably kills all domestic animals except goats and donkeys; man and
the wild animals escape. We ourselves were severely bitten on this pass,
and so were our donkeys, but neither suffered from any after effects.

Water is scarce in the Mburuma pass, except during the rainy season. We
however halted beside some fine springs in the bed of the now dry
rivulet, Podebode, which is continued down to the end of the pass, and
yields water at intervals in pools. Here we remained a couple of days in
consequence of the severe illness of Dr. Kirk. He had several times been
attacked by fever; and observed that when we were on the cool heights he
was comfortable, but when we happened to descend from a high to a lower
altitude, he felt chilly, though the temperature in the latter case was
25 degrees higher than it was above; he had been trying different
medicines of reputed efficacy with a view to ascertain whether other
combinations might not be superior to the preparation we generally used;
in halting by this water he suddenly became blind, and unable to stand
from faintness. The men, with great alacrity, prepared a grassy bed, on
which we laid our companion, with the sad forebodings which only those
who have tended the sick in a wild country can realize. We feared that
in experimenting he had over-drugged himself; but we gave him a dose of
our fever pills; on the third day he rode the one of the two donkeys that
would allow itself to be mounted, and on the sixth he marched as well as
any of us. This case is mentioned in order to illustrate what we have
often observed, that moving the patient from place to place is most
conducive to the cure; and the more pluck a man has--the less he gives in
to the disease--the less likely he is to die.

Supplied with water by the pools in the Podebode, we again joined the
Zambesi at the confluence of the rivulet. When passing through a dry
district the native hunter knows where to expect water by the animals he
sees. The presence of the gemsbuck, duiker or diver, springbucks, or
elephants, is no proof that water is near; for these animals roam over
vast tracts of country, and may be met scores of m