162 NARRATIVES. 



the woods. A small, black gnat, which the old inhabitants 

 term a " punkey," bears away the palm from the mosquito. 

 As these insects are only about one fourth as large as mos- 

 quitoes, the}^ can penetrate the meshes of any mosquito-net ; 

 and when once they get scent of you, they will leave no por- 

 tion of your body unexplored. The bite of these gnats is 

 much worse than that of the mosquito. If you are bitten by 

 the latter insect, and you do not unnecessarily irritate the 

 wound, the effect is not visible for any great length of time 

 afterward ; but the bite of these gnats results, first in a deep 

 crimson blotch about the size and shape of a half dime, and 

 then in an open sore, which in some cases will last for weeks. 

 The favorite method of protection against these insects in use 

 in the North Woods, is, to build a fire with some damp mate- 

 rial which will produce a dense smoke, plant yourself reso- 

 lutely where the smoke is thickes't, and take your chance of 

 being smothered, as a choice of evils. Neither mosquitoes 

 nor gnats can endure smoke ; and this fact is taken advantage 

 of by fiimilies living near the edge of the forest, who, during 

 warm weather, keep a pan of embers continually smouldering 

 at the doors of their houses, by way of self-defense. 



Eight or ten minutes of brisk walking brought us to a small 

 jlearing, wherein an enterprising pioneer had constructed a 

 /ough dwelling, and ministered thence to the wants and ne- 

 jessities of incoming and outgoing travellers. The principal 

 of these wants, I soon found, was whiskey. It is difficult for 

 me to do adequate justice to this beverage. I am undecided, 

 to this day, which of these two characteristic institutions of 

 the North Woods is the worst, the whiskey or the mosquitoes. 

 The rule is, I believe, that any one who can drink the whiskey 

 can endure the mosquitoes ; and, vice versa, any one who can 

 endure the mosquitoes can drink the Avhiskey. Nevertheless, 

 the article is in great demand, and indeed it seemed to be the 

 common understanding that it was well-nigli impossible to 

 undergo a two or three weeks' campaign in the woods with- 

 out it. 



It was eleven miles, said our informants, to our next stop- 

 phig-place ; and on we pushed, full of courageous intent, and 



