The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1894-05-26
,lOBENGULA'S TINY FOE
z HE FLY WHICH DROVE BACK
f, THE AFRICAN KING,
though tho Tsetse Fly Is Only a Shade
Larger Than Our Common House Fly
It's Bite Is Certain Death to Cattle.
Horses, sheep and Dogs.

Larger Than Our Common House Fly
It's Bite Is Certain Death to Cattle,
Horses, sheep and Dogs.
Probably never until the Matabele
war was the flight of an army, a ma
tlon and king from victorious en-
emy effectually stopped by fly. Nor
is the fly, which barred the path of
lobengula and his people, very large
or very formidable looking. OF about
the size of the ordinary American
house fly, this African fly seems to
have peculiar functions, one of which,
at that particular time. was to stop
the flight of the defeated Matabele
from the pursuing British. How this
happened constitutes an interesting
story.
When Lobengula was defeated in
the great fight at the laager he re-
treated with the remains of his force
TO his capital, Buluwayo. Being
sharply pursued by the British he
ned thence northward with nearly
the entire Matabele nation. It was
his Intention to cross the Za1nbezi
river and take refuge in the swampy,
mlasmatic country thereabouts, says
the New York World.
Those who read the reports Of the
war closely noticed that Lobengula's
fight was stopped suddenly by his
arrival at the ''tsetse fly country"
Probably he knew of the tsetse fly,
but in his hurried flight forgot
about it.
The tsetse fly belt extends through
the Zambezi country. The tsetse is
found among bushes or weeds, aud
never in the open country: This
particular belt of territory it never
leaves Its bite or sting is certain
death to the cattle, horses, sheep,
and dogs. It has no harmful effect
upon men, mules, and goats. Loben-
gula and his people could have
passed safely through the tsetse fly
country, but he would have been
compelled to leave his cattle behind.
Then most of his people would have
starved to death, as hunting was out
OF the question as means of furn-
ishing food for so many. Nearly all
the South and Central AFRICAN negro
tribes have large herds of e&Jtle, the
milk and flesh of which constitute
I Their chief sust stenance. So when
Lobengula and his men came to the
tsetse fly country the promised haven
OF refuge was cut of. There was
nothing for them to do but to turn
back and attempt another stand
against the British or surrender.
The formidable tsetse is shade
larger than our ordinary house tly.
Its head is a dirty yellow color and
it has large eyes. The thorax is a
chestnut red. with longitudinal black
gars. The abdomen is dirty yellow,
with black bristles above; the first
segment has a round black spot on
each side, and the four following
have broad, dark brown band, in
corrupted in the middle. The wings
are considerably longer than the
body.
The organ with which the tsetse
Stays its victims is long, horny pro-
boscis. It contains compound bris-
tie, or two needle-like piercers. These
plercers communicate with a poison
bulb at the base.
The tsetse hourishes best in very
warm weather. In the cool of the
mornings and evenings it is sluggish.
But when it throws off it's sloth.
with the coming of the heat, it is
very active and cannot be caught
1t makes loud and peculiar buzzing
noise. Oddly enough, this buzzing
does not alarm the animals for which
its sting is fatal.
Tho tsetse lays no eggs, nor has it
any sting in it's tail It thrusts it's
proboscis into the animals body and
then pumps the poison through its
veins from the bulb at the base. The
tsetse's sting produces no immediate
effect, but in few days there ap-
pears an exudation for about half an
inch around the punctures
The eyes and nose begin to run.
The skin quivers, as if with cold,
and swelling under the jaw occurs.
The animal grows thin and weak,
until it is but little more than a
skeleton. It may live in thai condi-
tlon for months, but death always oc-
ours eventually.
1t is a peculiar fact that the
stronger and healthier the bitten
animal is the sooner it's death will
result from the tsetse's sting. The
very strong animals are also afflicted
usually with staggering and blind
ness Sometimes swarms of these
flies attack a horse. The horse
usually dies within week, and if
the body is opened his blood is found
much reduced in quantity and there
are signs of disease in the lungs and
liver.
There is no explanation for the i'm
munity enjoyed by man, the mule
and the goat from the poison of the
tsetse's sting: Nor do wild animals
suffer from it.
No remedy for the tsetse's poison
has ever been found, although the
natives have tried all sorts of decoc-
tions of herbs and roots. The tsetse
country is at present uninhabitable