ORDER VII.—TW0-WINGED INSECTS, OR FLIES. 315 
On the road, at a distance of every four or five versts 
(three or four English miles), we found a military post of 
about a dozen Cossacks, keeping themselves and their horses 
under ground, except one sentinel, who was standing upon 
a scaffold twelve feet high, in order to watch any inimical 
movements of the Circassians, to repulse their attacks, and, 
in case of one, to give notice of it to the two nearest posts 
by means of the ancient Persian telegraph, viz.: by igniting 
a bundle of straw, which was then fastened to the top of a 
high pole and elevated. At midnight our misery reached 
its climax. Though covered with a wide cloak, the mos- 
quitoes entered every opening, and inflicted upon us such 
painful wounds that our faces were so swollen we could 
scarcely recognize one another. To our joy a large camp- 
fire was seen at some distance, which, according to the 
driver’s assurance, was the post-station, where fresh horses 
could be had. We arrived at the spot, and with great pre- 
cipitation left the carriage, running in haste to the fire, near 
which a large dog was howling and running asif 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 Boshoal, “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, 
