Tsetse n. (Written also tzetze, and tsetze) (Zool.) A venomous two-winged African fly (Glossina morsitans) whose bite is very poisonous, and even fatal, to horses and cattle, but harmless to men. It renders extensive districts in which it abounds uninhabitable during certain seasons of the year.
... Plinian monster called "Tasmeh- pa"Strap-legs without bones. The "Old Man" is not an ourang- outang nor an Ifrit as in Sayf al-Muluk, Night dcclxxi., but a jocose exaggeration of a custom prevailing in parts of Asia and especially in the African interior where the Tsetse-fly prevents the breeding of burden-beasts. Ibn Batutah tells us that in Malabar everything was borne upon men's backs. In Central Africa the kinglet rides a slave, and on ceremonious occasions mounts his Prime Minister. ... — The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 6 • Richard F. Burton
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