492 EXCURSIONS BEYOND EGA 



having allowed the fine open space to relapse into jungle. 

 The stiff clayey eminence is worn into deep gullies which 

 slope towards the river, and the ascent from the port in 

 rainy weather is so slippery that one is obliged to cravd 

 up to the streets on all fours. A large tract of ground 

 behind the place is clear of forest, but this, as well as 

 the streets and gardens, is covered with a dense, tough 

 carpet of shrubs, having the same wiry nature as our 

 common heath. Beneath its deceitful covering the soil 

 is always moist and soft, and in the wet season the whole 

 is converted into a glutinous mud swamp. There is a 

 very pretty church in one corner of the square, but in the 

 rainy months of the year (nine out of the twelve) the place 

 of worship is almost inaccessible to the inhabitants on 

 account of the mud, the only means of getting to it being 

 by hugging closely the walls and palings, and so advancing 

 sideways step by step. 



I remained in this delectable place until the 25 th of 

 January, 1857. Fonte Boa, in addition to its other 

 amenities, has the reputation throughout the country of 

 being the headquarters of mosquitoes, and it fully de- 

 serves the title. They are more annoying in the houses 

 by day than by night, for they swarm in the dark and 

 damp rooms, keeping, in the daytime, near the floor, 

 and settling by half-dozens together on the legs. At 

 night the calico tent is a sufficient protection ; but this 

 is obliged to be folded every morning, and in letting it 

 down before sunset, great care is required to prevent 

 any of the tormentors from stealing in beneath, their 

 insatiable thirst for blood, and pungent sting, making 

 these enough to spoil all comfort. In the forest the 

 plague is much worse ; but the forest-mosquito belongs 

 to a different species from that of the town, being much 

 larger, and having transparent wings ; it is a little cloud 

 that one carries about one's person every step on a wood- 

 land ramble, and their hum is so loud that it prevents 

 one hearing well the notes of birds. The town-mosquito 

 has opaque speckled wings, a less severe sting, and a 

 silent way of going to work ; the inhabitants ought to 

 be thankful the big, noisy fellows never come out of the 

 forest. In compensation for the abundance of mos- 

 quitoes, Fonte Boa has no piums ; there was, therefore, 

 some comfort outside one's door in the daytime ; the 

 comfort, however, was lessened by there being scarcely 



