FROM MUSQUITOES. 293 



doctor, whom I have already mentioned, came 

 into the cabin one evening in great glee, telling 

 us he had concocted some pate which would in- 

 fallibly kill the tormentors, if they only set foot 

 upon it, and that his plan was to grease his face 

 and hands well with it, and then, said he, with a 

 smile of considerable satisfaction, " I shall defy 

 them and sleep sound." Accordingly, at bed-time, 

 the doctor took a long time to grease his face and 

 hands with this composition, which was, I believe, 

 an extract of laurel leaves, and whilst some of us 

 envied him his agreeable prospect of an undis- 

 turbed night's rest, others were a little incredulous 

 as to the efficacy of the doctor's prescription. 



We had not laid ourselves down long, before 

 exclamations of " Peste " and " DiahUy' reached 

 our ears ; others more vehement soon followed, 

 and at last I heard some one getting up and 

 dressing himself very quietly. I listened, and 

 after a few minutes, out walked the unfortunate 

 doctor, who when he reached the deck began to 

 swear, and was obliged honestly to confess to one 

 of the passengers who had taken up his abode 

 for the night in the open air, that neither pa^e nor 

 any thing else would save from the musquitoes. 



