MOSQUITOES. 271 



heard of the body-louse and chigger, the red acarus, and 

 the Sand-fly, but what are they compared with the 

 Mosquito? I remember well on the present occasion 

 exclaiming in a rage, " Ah ! infernal Mosquito ! when 

 ' thy shrill horn its fearful larum flings ', driving all sleep 

 from weary eyes, and making the night pass away as a 

 long and feverish, fitful dream, surely thou art a demon 

 of the Insect- world ". I have seen the faces of myself 

 and some of my messmates, appear in the morning, as if 

 they had the small-pox, their countenances being inflamed, 

 swollen, and covered with white tubercles, and that 

 during a single night ! In England, when the sun de- 

 clines, scarcely a sound echoes to the "dull ear of the 

 night-cradled earth ", but in Borneo, as soon as daylight 

 begins to wane, a strange nocturnal chorus fills the air, 

 which continues, without intermission, until the morning. 

 The performers in this chorus of " beings of the night's 

 shadows" are very numerous, and each has a distinct 

 part assigned to him. A subterranean Beetle "opens 

 the ball " from the dark bosom of the earth, producing a 

 loud, continuous, singing noise, made mellow and 

 booming by the winding of his cavern. The Frogs follow 

 up closely this first musical indication, making the swamps 

 resound with their harsh croakings. The mournful note 

 of the Goat-sucker crying out monotonously at intervals, 

 echoes dismally around ; the Cicadae not yet tired with 

 their long day's work make the dim shades resound with 

 their long loud song; the Grass-hoppers, long-legged 

 Choristers, in their merry way, chirp with all their might ; 

 one monotonous continued wailing cry uttered by some 

 unknown songster continues the live-long night; now 



