AT ASAIBA. 105 



whicli inundated the country in every direction to the 

 horizon. Garsons, and the many species of white aquatic 

 birds "wliich had become so familiar to us, had left these 

 domains almost exclusively to ducks and geese, which 

 were here in thousands, and filled the air with their cries. 

 Now and then was seen a brace of noisy gnacamayas, or 

 a flock of parrots, winging their way over the watery 

 waste toward more promising realms. Unable to find 

 dry land upon which we could bivouac, we contented our- 

 selves with some bits of cassava we had remaining on 

 board, and continued our voyage, reaching, by 10 p. m,, 

 Asaiba, the island estate of the commander of our log fleet. 

 Here we had oui- first experience with jiggers, or niguas 

 {Pidex penetrans), which, as we discovered in the morning, 

 filled the sand beneath our hamm^ocks. Yv^e had heard 

 much, and seen not a little, of the eflfects resulting from 

 the burrowing of these minute insects beneath the skin, 

 but had never ourselves before been made the object of 

 their attentions. This microscopic insect generally buries 

 itself in some part of the feet, but no portion of the body 

 is exempted from them. Having found for itself a home, 

 it deposits a cluster of eggs, enclosed in a sack, which, 

 upon developing, colonize the limb in which they are 

 established. The first indication of the presence of the 

 insect is a peculiar itching sensation, which is followed in 

 a few days, if the removal of the nigua be neglected, by 

 swelling, that in time becomes exceedingly painful. It is 

 not uncommon to see among the natives jiggered feet dis- 

 tended to frightful proportions ; the aflccted member re- 

 taining permanently its unnatural size. Not unfrequently 

 they render amputation necessary, and sometimes occasion 

 death. Foreigners are especially subject to their attacks ; 

 and the eflects resulting therefrom upon such are also 

 worse than upon the natives of the country. For mothers 

 to search the feet of their children for niguas, is as much 



