TJie Home of the Wolverene and Beaver. 5 5 



the fires that each party kept burning, not for the 

 heat that they threw out, but to secure some little 

 respite from the attacks of insects. During the 

 summer in Canada, the traveller, particularly if 

 encamped near marshy ground, finds his leisure 

 moments fully occupied in warding off the attacks 

 of poisonous flies and other members of the insect 

 world. Three different kinds of these tormentors 

 may be enumerated, viz., the mosquito, the black 

 fly, and the gnat, who relieve each other in regular 

 succession, so that their human prey has no respite. 

 The mosquitoes continue at their posts from dawn 

 until eight or nine o'clock in the forenoon ; the 

 black flies then appear, and remain in the field 

 until sunset ; the mosquitoes again mount guard 

 until dark; and are finally succeeded by the gnats, 

 who continue their watch and incessant attacks 

 until sunrise ; thus each variety has its own hour 

 and opportunity, their arrangements never clash, 

 and they are enabled to devote their whole time 

 and attention to the torture of their unhappy 

 victims. Paul, who was unseasoned, and whose 

 succulent beef-fed flesh doubtless held out irre- 

 sistible attractions to his enemies, suffered greatly 

 for the irritation from the bites of these puny insects 

 is excessive, and the temptation to allay the smart 

 by scratching intense ; and by incautiously rubbing 



