EGYPTIAN FLIES AND EATS.

Globe, Volume III, Issue 234, 10 March 1875, Page 3

EGYPTIAN FLIES AND EATS.

(From “ Ismailia” by Sir Samuel Baker.) A large stable contained the twenty horses which by great care had kept their condition. It was absolutely necessary to keep them in a dark stable on account of the flies, which attacked all animals in swarms. Even within the darkened building it was necessary to light fires composed of dried horsedung, to drive away these persecuting insects. The hair fell completely oft’ the ears and legs of the donkeys (which were allowed to ramble about) owing to the swarms of Hies that irritated the skin ; but in spite of the comparative comfort of a stable, the donkeys preferred a life of out-door independence, and fell off in condition if confined to a house. The worst hies were the small grey ones with a long probiscis, similar to those who are often seen in houses in England. In an incredibly short time the station fell into shape. I constructed three magazines of galvanised iron, each 80ft in height, and the head storekeeper, Mr Marcopolo, at last completed his arduous task of storing the immense amount of supplies that had been contained in the hcet of vessels. This introduced us to the White Nile rats, which volunteered their services in thousands, and quickly took possession of the magazine by tunnelling beneath, and appearing in the midst of a rat’s paradise, among thousands of bushels of rice, buiscuits, lentils, &c. The destruction caused by these animals was frightful. They gnawed holes in the sacks, and the contents poured upon the ground like sand from an hour-glass, to be immediately attacked and destroyed by white ants. There was no lime in the country, nor stone of any kind, thus it was absolutely impossible to stop the ravages of white ants except by the constant labor of turning over the vast masses of boxes and stores, to cleanse them from the earthen galleries which denote the presence of the termites.