246 THE INSECT PLAGUES OF THE TROPICAL WORLD 



Along the low river-banks, and everywhere on hot and 

 swampy grounds, the blood-thirsty Mosquitoes appear periodi- 

 cally in countless multitudes, the dread of 

 all who live in warm climates. Scarcely 

 has the sun descended below the horizon, 

 when these insects arise from the morass 

 to disturb the rest of man and to reader 

 existence a torment. 



Not satisfied with piercing the flesh with 



their sharp proboscis, which at the same time 



Mos uito forms a kind of syphon through which the 



blood flows, these malignant gnats, of which 



there are many species, inject a poison into the wound, which 



causes inflammation, and prolongs the pain. 



In Angola, Dr. Livingstone found the banks of the river 

 Seuza infested by legions of the most ferocious mosquitoes he 

 ever met with during the course of his long travels. " Not 

 one of our party could get a snatch of sleep. I was taken 

 into the house of a Portuguese, but was soon glad to make my 

 escape, and lie across the path on the lee-side of the fire, where 

 the smoke blew over my body. My host wondered at my want 

 of taste, and I at his want of feeling ; for, to our astonishment, 

 he and the other inhabitants had actually become used to what 

 was at least equal to a nail through the heel of one's boot, or 

 the tooth-ache." 



Mr. Edwards, on his voyage up the Amazon, was no less tor- 

 mented by these troublesome pests. "Soon after dark, we 

 crossed the mouth of the Zingu, much to the displeasure of the 

 Indians, who wished to stop upon the lower side ; and they were 

 very right, for scarcely had we crossed when we were beset by 

 such swarms of mosquitoes as put all sleep at defiance. Nets 

 were of no avail, even if the oppressive heat would have 

 allowed them ; for those which could not creep through the 

 meshes would in some other way find entrance, in spite of 

 every precaution. Thick breeches they laughed at, and the 

 interior of the cabin seemed a bee-hive. This would not 

 do, so we tried the deck, but fresh swarms continually 

 poured over us, and all night long we were foaming with 

 vexation and rage." 



On the eastern slopes of the Andes, the mosquitoes or 



