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 neighborhood of Port-au-Prince. 
