ening 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. It is named by
the n