"Das de _tsetse_: when bite horse or ox den dey die," he answered.
As, however, neither my uncle nor I felt any ill effects from the bites
of the flies, we thought that Jan must be mistaken, and at all events it
was now too late to shift our encampment. We therefore, having made up
a blazing fire to scare off any wild beasts, lay down to sleep, without
thinking more of the flies, which did not cause us any annoyance.
The next morning we saw some of the creatures on the legs of our horses
and the ox; but we soon brushed them away, and, loading up, we continued
our journey. They went on as usual. Jan, however, looked much
disconcerted, and I saw him continually brushing off the flies.
"No good, no good!" he said, "hope soon get through, for de horses not
go far."
I asked my uncle what Jan meant. He replied that he had often heard of
the tsetse fly, but never having passed through a country infested by
it, he was disinclined to believe the stories told of the deadly effects
of its bite on cattle and horses.