ORDER VII. TWO-WINGED INSECTS, OR FLIES. 311 



A prose translation of which is: "Knowst thou now this 

 country, where only briers and thistles bloom ; where ugly 

 fur-nuts only glow in the icy forest; where down in the 

 vale the fetid hemlock grows, and on the hills the poison- 

 ous sumach ; where heavy winds blow from black clouds 

 over desolate lands? Dost thou not know enough of this 

 country? Oh, then, let us fly in haste and return to our 

 own fatherland !" 



Another species of flea, and a much more troublesome 

 and dangerous insect, is 



The Sand-flea, or Chique {Pulex penetrans), whose at- 

 tacks have often been attended with horrible consequences, 

 such as the loss of feet, legs, and arms, and even of human 

 lives. This insect is very small, and can not hop like the 

 former species, but runs about in the sand and dust in the 

 mountainous parts of the West Indies, as well as in South 

 America. Near the sea-shore and during the rainy season 

 it is seldom seen ; but as soon as the dry season begins, in 

 the hilly localities, where coffee and cotton trees thrive, it 

 is found in great abundance. 



During our travels in San Domingo we were very anx- 

 ious to make minute observations on those little creatures, 

 which are very numerous upon all the high grounds during 

 the dry season from August to March ; but it must be con- 

 fessed we were glad to leave the country as well and no 

 wiser than before. We were confined to the bed for three 

 months from the wounds caused by these insects, and were 

 physically and mentally unable to make any observations, 

 being under surgical care the whole time, and barely escap- 

 ing amputation of the feet. Every part of the body almost 

 was wounded by the stings of these horrible and stealthy 

 enemies ; and as soon as we recovered sufficiently to be able 

 to move, we precipitately left their abode, and went from 

 the coffee and cotton groves down to the sugar-cane fields 

 near the sea-shore, in the neisrhborhood of Port-au-Prince. 



