278 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



bad prospects for the night, lighted fires all around the 

 rancho, and smoked inordinately. We were in no hur- 

 ry to lie down, and sat till a late hour, consoling our- 

 selves with the reflection that, but for the moschetoes, 

 our satisfaction would be beyond all bounds. The dark 

 border of the clearing was lighted up by fireflies of ex- 

 traordinary size and brilliancy darting among the trees, 

 not flashing and disappearing, but carrying a steady 

 light ; and, except that their course was serpentine, 

 seeming like shooting stars. In different places there 

 were two that remained stationary, emitting a pale but 

 beautiful light, and seemed like rival belles holding 

 levees. The fiery orbs darted from one to the other ; 

 and when one, more daring than the rest, approached 

 too near, the coquette withdrew her light, and the flut- 

 terer went off. One, however, carried all before her, 

 and at one time we counted seven hovering around her. 



At length we prepared for sleep. Hammocks would 

 leave us exposed on every side to the merciless attacks 

 of the moschetoes, and we spread our mats on the 

 ground. We did not undress. Pawling, with a great 

 deal of trouble, rigged his sheets into a moscheto-net, 

 but it was so hot that he could not breathe under them, 

 and he roamed about or was in the river nearly all night. 

 The Indians had occupied themselves in catching snails 

 and cooking them for supper, and then lay down to 

 sleep on the banks of the river ; but at midnight, with 

 sharp thunder and lightning, the rain broke in a deluge, 

 and they all came under the shed, and there they lay 

 perfectly naked, mechanically, and without seeming to 

 disturb themselves, slapping their bodies with their 

 hands. The incessant hum and bite of the insects kept 

 us in a constant state of wakefulness and irritation. 

 Our bodies we could protect, but with a covering over 



