64 explorations in the far north 



worst place for mosquitoes in the North." The mosquitoes and 

 bulldog flies 1 swarmed about the oxen used on the portage, 

 driving them frantic when on the road, and causing them to 

 spend most of the night in the smoke of fires kindled to pro- 

 tect them. At each house a pan of wet chips was kept burning 

 before the door, producing an odor not exactly that of incense. 

 Under favorable atmospheric conditions they would gather in 

 such numbers as to cover the greater part of one's clothing, 

 each individual searching with feverish activity for a vulnerable 

 spot. Les maringouins settle upon you like angry bees and no 

 amount of switching or brushing will drive them off. 



When I attempted to collect birds the mosquitoes sometimes 

 actually covered the gun barrels and concealed the sights. 

 The mosquito helmet I was compelled to wear seriously ob- 

 structed my vision, and they always found their way through its 

 meshes. They have not the timid and hesitating manner that 

 characterizes the southern mosquito, but realizing that their 

 summer is short and naturalists are few, they waste no time but 

 light squarely upon their bills and go to work. I have smeared 

 coal oil, bacon grease, and other precious ointments upon my 



1 "June 23d, [1848]. The Tabanus named by the voyageurs 'Bull-dog,' has 

 been common for two days. The current notion is, that this fly cuts a piece 

 of flesh from his victim, and at first sight there seems to be truth in the 

 opinion. The fly alights on the hands or face so gently that if not seen he 

 is scarcely felt until he makes his wound, which produces a stinging as if 

 the skin had been touched by a live coal. The hand is quickly raised 

 toward the spot and the insect flies off. A drop of blood, oozing from the 

 puncture, gives it the appearance of a gaping wound, and the fly is sup- 

 posed to have carried off a morsel of flesh. In fact, the Tabanus, inserts a 

 five-bladed lancet, makes a perforation like a leech-bite, and, introducing 

 his flexible proboscis, proceeds to suck the blood. * * These Tabani are 

 troublesome only toward noon and in a bright sun, when the heat beats 

 down the mosquitoes." Richardson, Arctic Searching Expedition, p. 67. 



This fly is larger than the familiar blue-bottle. I frequently noticed that 

 they seemed to pursue a premeditated plan to make their way to my 

 hands or face, unobserved, by alighting on my cuffs or collar and crawling 

 thence to the exposed flesh. I first met them at Selkirk, on the Red River 

 where they are a great pest. At Chemawawin, on the Saskatchewan, our 

 tent, one sultry afternoon, was filled with them as by a swarm of bees. We 

 surrendered our domicile to them and went outside among the mosquitoes 

 which, at least, sounded a warning before making an attack. The bull-dog 

 is found, I believe, throughout the entire Northwest. Schwatka {Along 

 Alaska's Great River, p. 125) mentions the occurrence of a "horse" fly on the 

 Yukon, which is probably a species of Tabanus. 



