IN THE BUFFALO COUNTRY.—THE PARADISE OF FLIES.—THE VARIOUS SPECIES.
Now, though we have not left our hunting grounds of the preceding
chapter, we have moved toward the Ovenga River, and have built our camp
not far from its shore. We are now really in the heart of Kanga-Niaré,
the name which Quengueza people give to the land. Niaré means buffalo,
but I have forgotten the meaning of Kanga.
We have changed our camp, for Malaouen was fearful that some of our guns
might have been heard by the warlike Bakalais of the Ashankolo; and as
their clans had had some trouble with them, he was afraid that they
might come in ambush and shoot some of us. This, of course, was not a
very pleasant prospect. These Bakalai are so treacherous that they are
capable of any thing; they kill without warning any one that comes in
their way, whatever they may be, even women, children or old men.
As we worked hard all day we could not keep watch all night, so we had
concluded to move.
Our little camp is pleasantly situated on the edge of the forest in
front of a beautiful little prairie. There are several of these, and
rambling about I saw that traces of wild buffaloes were abundant. I had
not tasted buffalo for a long time, and I thought it would be a nice
thing if I could kill one.
Querlaouen, Gambo, and Malaouen had been feasting on gorilla meat,
though I had not. Not only had they feasted on it, but they had smoked a
good deal of it to take back with them.
The first day we kept quiet. The soil was sandy, the grass was very
luxuriant, growing at least two feet high. The sun is very oppressive in
these clear spots or little prairies. We were tormented terribly by
flies; the country of the Ovenga seems to be the paradise of flies.
During the day they often wear a man’s life out. They sting you, they
suck your blood, and they plague you beyond expression.
As for musquitoes, they were swarming at this time of the year, and I
would defy any one to sleep at night without musquito-nets, unless his
skin were bullet proof, or as hard as the skin of an elephant or
hippopotamus; and as mine was not, I always carried with me a net made
of the grass-cloth of the interior.
Three of these day-flies might have almost been called the three
plagues; in fact, in these parts there was always some kind of insect to
annoy one.
Early in the morning, just at sunrise, the _igooguai_ makes its
appearance and only disappears when the sun becomes too warm, as it does
toward nine or ten o’clock. The igooguai is a small, almost
imperceptible gnat, which appears in incredible numbers in the morning
in certain regions. From ten o’clock it is seen no more till four, when
its operations are recommenced, and last till sunset.
[Sidenote: _THE IGOOGUAI GNAT._]
It is a very, very small fly, which can hardly be noticed; it might be
called a sand-fly, and a dreadful little creature it is. In some regions
it is found in such great numbers that it is almost impossible to secure
quiet in the morning, hence the people have to surround themselves with
smoke to drive them away; and one must remain in his hut, which must be
filled entirely with smoke, in order to be free from them. If I stood
still outside for a while, my face and hands were covered with them.
After they have fed themselves their bodies become almost of a blood
color. You have hardly killed one hundred on your hand or face, when a
few minutes after the same number is found. Of course you can not kill
them one by one, so the only way is to pass your hand right over them
all on your face. My unprotected skin was covered then with little red
spots as if I had the measles.
I really can not tell you how these _igooguai_ troubled me; sometimes
they almost made me crazy. They are most determined blood-suckers,
leaving a bite which itches terribly and for a considerable time. They
are only found in open places generally.
The heat of the sun had hardly driven the _igooguai_ out of the field
and obliged them to take shelter in the forest or somewhere else (for
during the heat of the day they do not trouble any one), than the
flies—which we might call the three plagues—the _iboco_, the _nchouna_,
and the _ibolai_, began to make their appearance. These are quiet in the
morning, and remain so until the sun has warmed the atmosphere, then
they begin to buzz around the people; hence, as you see, there was no
peace for poor me. I had hardly got rid of one kind of the igooguai when
I got into the hands of these three other suckers by way of a change.
In certain regions, from eleven o’clock till three, I certainly thought
I should lose my senses, especially when living on the banks of rivers.
The most dreaded of all, and the most savage of these three species of
flies, is the _iboco_. I shall never forget the iboco as long as I live.
I have been stung too many times by them to forget it. A hot day, and
under a powerful sun, these insects attacked us with a terrible
persistency that left us no peace.
The iboco is a large fly of the size of a hornet, with yellow body and a
large green head; it flies with a wonderful rapidity; and when it wants
to rest on somebody it whirls round and round so rapidly that the eyes
become quite bewildered, and in the wink of an eye they rest on the bare
back of some poor negro, and give a sting which draws often from him a
cry of anguish. There is always great rejoicing when an iboco is killed.
They are very plentiful in the regions of the Ovenga River; indeed, I
have never seen them in such great numbers anywhere else. They like to
be by the water and in open places. I have never seen them except in the
clearings.
Many and many times have I started as if stung by a scorpion or
centipede, when it was nothing but an iboco, whose bill had gone through
two or three of my garments. Their bite is quite as painful as that of a
scorpion, but happily it is not venomous, and the pain does not last
long; but its sharpness makes up for the shortness of its duration.
Often the blood has run down my face or arm, from their savage attacks,
and even the well-tanned skin of the negroes is punctured till it
bleeds, so that one would almost think that a leech had been at work on
them.
[Sidenote: _THE NCHOUNA._]
The _nchouna_ has quite another sort of tactics. It is not so large as
the iboco, is far more sly, and is also found in greater numbers. If the
iboco were as numerous as the nchouna, the people would surely not be
able to live in the regions of the Ovenga. The nchouna is somewhat of
the shape of our common flies, but of at least twice the size; it is of
a yellowish color, and perhaps more elongated, resembling very much the
_tsetche_ of Southern Africa, of which species it may be a variety.
As one is seated, he sees several nchounas flying in a quiet way round
about him. They are very sly, and the least movement one makes sends
them off. As they fly around one they do not appear as if intent upon an
attack, but before you know it the fly has come, and in such a gentle
way that you do not notice it at all, for they insert their bill very
gently into your body. They will stay until they have sucked your blood
and filled themselves with it, and generally I never knew of their
attack till I felt the itch which follows the bite when the fly has
gone. Then this is followed by a little painful swelling. The itching
begins, and lasts often for several hours, especially if the fly has
been disturbed before its full allowance has been taken. In the height
of the rainy season in the country of the Ovenga no day passed without
my being bitten several times by the nchouna.
The negroes usually have a little broom, made of the stem of the leaves
of certain trees, to keep off this insect; often the tail of an elephant
is used for the same purpose.
The third species, I remember well, is called _ibolai_. It is an insect
twice as large as our common house-fly. The wings cross each other. This
fly is black, more elongated than the nchouna, and quicker on the wing;
its sting is long, and strong enough to pierce the thickest clothes one
can wear in the heat of an African summer. The sting is so terribly
sharp that I have often jumped up with the sudden pain, which was as if
a pin had been stuck savagely into my person; but the bite of this
insect, if painful, does not last like that of the nchouna. You need not
think for a moment that the day is over with the flies, and that one is
going to rest. Toward four o’clock, when the sun begins to go down and
lays hidden back of the hills, the iboco, nchouna, and ibolai disappear.
The _igooguai_, as I have said before, makes again its appearance to
plague and annoy; toward sunset they retire for parts unknown to me, and
several varieties of musquitoes make their appearance to remind man that
he is made of flesh and blood. In some parts of the country they are
very plentiful, and absolutely terrible, but I am happy to say that on
the banks of the Ovenga, where the flies I have described to you are
very abundant, the musquitoes are not so very numerous. The rainy season
is the time when all those flies are most abundant; the dry season is
almost free from them, and in many places they then become almost
unknown.
Such is, I assure you, a faithful picture of the flies of that region.
The best way to get rid of them is to keep in motion. If you stand still
they are sure to come upon you.
You will ask yourselves, How can people live in such a country? It is
wonderful how one gets accustomed to snakes, ants, flies, musquitoes,
scorpions, and centipedes. To be sure, they are not pleasant companions.
[Illustration: [Fleuron]]