Note 46 — Chapter VIII · FIRST JOURNEY TO THE WEBBE SHABÉLEH RIVER (continued)

Between the Tug Fáfan and Milmil we were very much annoyed by two kinds of gadfly, the camels, whenever they were halted, throwing themselves down and rolling, with the result that a great deal of kit was broken. There are two kinds—the balaad, a small, grayish black fly the size of a common house-fly, with triangular wings, very dangerous to camels, often causing eventual death; and the dúg, as large as a bumblebee, which stings both men and animals, and is present in great numbers, only ceasing its persecutions by night. It is not so dangerous to camels as balaad. I learned, on sending specimens to be examined at the British Museum, that neither of these flies have anything whatever to do with the “Tsetse” of South Africa, which belongs to an entirely different family.