IN PANAMA 21 5 



a platform of poles, under which the mosos crept when the evening rain 

 came on. The Pioneer kept a lantern burning, as he said it scared away 

 the vampire bats. It did not frighten the insects, however, for the morn- 

 ing light showed four white men well speckled with red spots. Just 

 what the insect was could not be discovered, but it was most industrious. 

 I counted fifty-seven well defined bites between knee and ankle, and 

 there were others. I also discovered how to scratch these bites and 

 suffer no ill effects, and Oh! the joy of such scratching! The remedy 

 was a five per cent, solution of formine applied to the surface after an 

 orgy of scratching. In two hours after the application, all the poison 

 either from bite or finger nails wholly disappeared. It being Sunday, our 



CAMP RIO NEGRO. 



mozos piously refrained from work, but in spite of their scruples, they 

 were induced to build a shelter for themselves, which they finally did, 

 getting the roof on just before the afternoon downpour of rain. 



In speaking of the lack of enterprise that the natives show, it must 

 not for a moment be imagined that they are behind the times in every- 

 thing. In the utilization of public money, for example, they could give 

 Tammany Hall points of value. To cite an instance: The home gov- 

 ernment at Panama City appropriated three thousand dollars for the 

 building of a bridge over a river that flowed near a certain town. 

 Shortly after that one of the holders of the fund approached the Pioneer 

 and asked for an estimate as to the cost of putting up the bridge, remark- 



