316 A DISAGREEABLE FOG. 
had stages erected, or rather fastened to stout 
poles driven like piles into the mud at the bot- 
tom of the lake. To these large platforms over 
the water they all retire, on the first appearance 
of the mosquitos. 
In about four or five days the increase was 
something beyond all belief, and really terri- 
ble. I can convey no idea of the numbers, 
except by saying they were in dense clouds 
truly, and not figuratively, a thick fog of 
mosquitos. Night or day it was just the 
same; the hum of these bloodthirsty tyrants 
was incessant. We ate them, drank them, 
breathed them; nothing but the very thickest 
leathern clothing was of the slightest use as a 
protection against their lancets. The trousers 
had to be tied tightly round the ankle, and the 
coat-sleeve round the wrist, to prevent their 
getting in; but if one more crafty than the 
others found out a needle-hole, or a thin spot, 
it would have your blood in a second. We 
lighted huge fires, fumigated the tents, tried 
every expedient we could think of, but all in 
vain. They seemed to be quite happy in a 
smoke that would stifle anything mortal, and, 
what was worse, they grew thicker every day. 
Human endurance has its limits. A man can- 
