Some Sing As Loudly As Our Thrushes,
And The King-Hunter (`Halcyon Senegalensis') Makes A Clear Whirring Sound
Like That Of A Whistle With A Pea In It.
During the heat of the day
all remain silent, and take their siesta in the shadiest parts of the trees,
but in the cool of the evening they again exert themselves
in the production of pleasant melody.
It is remarkable that so many songbirds
abound where there is a general paucity of other animal life.
As we went forward we were struck by the comparative absence of game
and the larger kind of fowls. The rivers contain very few fish.
Common flies are not troublesome, as they are wherever milk is abundant;
they are seen in company with others of the same size and shape,
but whose tiny feet do not tickle the skin, as is the case
with their companions. Mosquitoes are seldom so numerous as to disturb
the slumbers of a weary man.
But, though this region is free from common insect plagues, and from tsetse,
it has others. Feeling something running across my forehead
as I was falling asleep, I put up the hand to wipe it off,
and was sharply stung both on the hand and head; the pain was very acute.
On obtaining a light, we found that it had been inflicted
by a light-colored spider, about half an inch in length,
and, one of the men having crushed it with his fingers,
I had no opportunity of examining whether the pain had been produced
by poison from a sting or from its mandibles. No remedy was applied,
and the pain ceased in about two hours. The Bechuanas believe
that there is a small black spider in the country whose bite is fatal.
I have not met with an instance in which death could be traced to this insect,
though a very large black, hairy spider, an inch and a quarter long
and three quarters of an inch broad, is frequently seen,
having a process at the end of its front claws similar to that
at the end of the scorpion's tail, and when the bulbous portion of it
is pressed, the poison may be seen oozing out from the point.
We have also spiders in the south which seize their prey by leaping upon it
from a distance of several inches. When alarmed, they can spring
about a foot away from the object of their own fear. Of this kind
there are several varieties.
A large reddish spider (`Mygale') obtains its food in a different manner
than either patiently waiting in ambush or by catching it with a bound.
It runs about with great velocity in and out, behind and around every object,
searching for what it may devour, and, from its size and rapid motions,
excites the horror of every stranger. I never knew it to do any harm
except frightening the nervous, and I believe few could look upon it
for the first time without feeling himself in danger.
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