BITING GNATS OF SOUTHERN RUSSIA 19 



the spot, and with great precipitation left the carriage, running in haste to the 

 fire, near which a large dog was howling and running as if mad ; the horses, as 

 soon as they were unharnessed, sprang into the fire to get rid of the mosquitoes, 

 and only with difficulty could they be removed to the subterranean stable, where 

 the postmaster, a half-invalid officer of the army, with some men and a number 

 of imperial horses, resided. The officer immediately ordered fresh horses for 

 us, and, looking from under a very heavy covering at our pitiful condition, told 

 us to hurry on, and by daybreak we should arrive at the next station, where we 

 could find comfortable houses and be relieved from the attacks of mosquitoes. 

 In less than five minutes the horses were harnessed, and the Russian word 

 BosTioal, ' Go on,' from the commander to the new driver, was music to our ears. 

 When we arrived at the next station we stopped at the first house, the owner of 

 which was a captain of the Cossacks, who received us with the usual hospitality, 

 inborn in the Russians of all grades, and entirely unknown in any part of Europe 

 or America, Poland and Hungary excepted. The captain conducted us into a 

 well-furnished, comfortable room, assisted us to undress and get to bed, and 

 from time to time applied wet cloths to our swollen face and body, until a pro- 

 found sleep temporarily relieved our excruciating pains. The same care was 

 taken of our servant, who, in the madness caused by his sufferings, attempted 

 to shoot himself that he might be out of misery, but was prevented by two 

 athletic Cossacks, and watched and nursed until he, too, was relieved by sleep. 

 It was not until after a week of suffering that the fever and inflammation sub- 

 sided so that we could open our eyes. . . . 



" As the Cossacks of the Black Sea are no agriculturists, but derive their sub- 

 sistence from their numerous herds of horses, oxen, sheep, goats, and hogs, they 

 suffer immensely at times from the ravages of the mosquitoes. Although they 

 are fortunately not seen every year, these blood-suckers may be considered a real 

 Egyptian plague among the herds of these Cossacks ; for they soon transform the 

 most delightful plains into a mournful, solitary desert, killing all the beasts, 

 and completely stripping the fields of every animated creature. One can not 

 look upon the spectacle without pity when he sees the poor cattle exhibiting so 

 much terror at the approach of these innumerable swarms of mosquitoes, whole 

 herds hurrying home for shelter, running as if mad, and often, in their fright, 

 plunging into the river and being drowned. Thousands of these insatiate tor- 

 mentors enter the nostrils, ears, eyes, and mouth of the cattle, who shortly after 

 die in convulsions, or from secondary inflammation, or from absolute suffoca- 

 tion. In the small town of Elizabethpol alone, during the month of June, thirty 

 horses, forty foals, seventy oxen, ninety calves, a hundred and fifty hogs, and four 

 hundred sheep, were killed by these flies." 



