INJUEIOTTS TO MAN. 275 



even a conception of their multitude. They fill the air 

 so that they seem to be an almost solid mass. If a lamp 

 be lighted, they put it out by settling on it, while the 

 hum of their wings is almost like the roaring of the sea 

 in the ears of a diver. 



Yet the natives can utilise even these terrible pests, 

 which are so venomous that not even a mule could stray 

 on the banks of the lake and live through the night. 

 But the mosquito never seems to travel to any great 

 distance from the water in which it passed through its 

 previous stages of existence, and the natives can avoid it 

 by sleeping in spots far removed from the water's edge. 



They do more than this ; they sweep the mosquitos 

 into large bags, press them together and form them into 

 cakes, just as is done with the eggs of the Corixa. These 

 cakes go by the name of " kungo." They are circular, 

 about eight inches in diameter, and an inch or so in thick- 

 ness. When eaten they are said to bear some resem- 

 blance to caviare in flavour. 



Before quitting this part of the subject, we must not 

 lose sight of the fact that none of the so-called noxious 

 insects, even though they cause direct annoyance to man, 

 were created for that purpose. Take, for example, the 

 mosquito swarms above mentioned. Man is not the 

 normal food of the mosquito, which can and does main- 

 tain existence without ever seeing a human being. But 

 when man presents himself in the tract already inhabited 

 by the mosquitos, he becomes an intruder and has to 

 suffer the penalty of his intrusion. 



