56 ADVENTUKES IN THE WILDERNESS. 



but beside tlie bite of tlie mosquito it is compara- 

 tively mild and harmless. This fly prevails during 

 the month of June and disappears early in July. 

 It also invariably retires at the setting of the 

 sun, and gives you no more trouble until late in 

 the morning. I regard it as one of the most harm- 

 less and least vexatious of the insect family. For 

 five years my wife and self have camped in the 

 wilderness ; we have traversed it near and far, 

 sleeping where the night found us, but we have 

 never been, to any extent worth mentioning, 

 disturbed by its presence. The black fly, as pic- 

 tured by " our Adirondack correspondent," like the 

 Gorgon of old, is a myth, — a monster existing 

 only in men's feverish imaginations. 



MOSQUITOES. • 



In some localities these are numerous, but with 

 care in the selection of your camp you will 

 not be very much troubled. A headland, or a 

 point which projects into a lake, over which the 

 wind sweeps, or, better still, an island, is excel- 

 lent ground for a camp, where mosquitoes wiU 

 not embarrass you. 



Gnats can also be avoided by the same care ; 

 and, in my way of thinking, they are much worse 

 than the black fly or mosquito. 



