MOSQUITOES, 113 



"neither dared to sleep nor to look out;" — that "the hum- 

 ming sound of the millions was something awful;" — that 

 he found himself " in the very regions of torment/' which 

 " it was utterly impossible to endure ; " — that " the poor 

 horses stood with their heads in the smoke, as a protection 

 against the pests;" — and that "to have remained on the 

 spot would have subjected them to a degree of torment 

 neither man nor beast could endure, so that they were 

 obliged to retreat." " I wish I could say," he feelingly 

 adds, " that we left the enemy in possession of the field. 

 Not so ; they pursued us with blood-thirsty pertinacity, 

 until we reached some open meadows, when they were 

 driven back into their fenny region by a breeze, — I hope 

 to prey on each other."* 



* Atkinson's Siberia, p. 75, etpasdm. 



