298 CAMP LIFE, 



round you day and nig£t, when they fill the air you 

 breathe and deafen your ears with their hum, when your 

 hands, face and body are covered with itching lumps, it 

 is hard to bear. But mosquitoes are comparatively quiet 

 in the sun-light, and are partially affected by smoke ; 

 they can be influenced by a smudge, can be frightened 

 off and sometimes killed ; they do not compare with the 

 sand-fly. 



The latter, almost invisible to the naked eye, comes in 

 absolute myriads ; it settles upon every inch of exposed 

 flesh ; it creeps into every crevice; it cannot be frightened 

 away, but must be brushed off; its worst attacks are at 

 night, when tired nature is pining for a little rest ; its 

 bite does not itch, but burns like fire, till face, hands and 

 neck feel as though they had been scalded. But the 

 sand-fly, bad as he is, can be persuaded out of your tent 

 by a fire ; he does not abound except in sandy localities ; 

 his bite does not draw blood, nor raise a lump, and is not 

 permanent ; he does not compare with the black fly. 



The latter comes without a warning note ; he bites till 

 the blood runs in a stream, and inflicts the sharpest pain ; 

 he clings fast till he is absolutely rubbed off, and crawls 

 up your sleeve or pants or down your neck ; he loves 

 not the fire, nor fears the smoke ; he cannot be enticed 

 nor driven away. The mosquito comes numerous as the 

 rain-drops in a shower ; the sand-fly as the motes in sun- 

 light ; but the black fly like the sand of the desert when 

 the simoom is raging. Resignation can endure the first, 

 stoicism the second, but nothing the last. 



All three of these pests are found abundantly in the 

 woods, and without being prepared for them, instead of 



