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MUSQUITO DRESS. 113 



Our leather dresses were, indeed, a slight 

 protection against these persevering and 

 relentless enemies, but the intolerable heat 

 soon compelled us to lay them aside ; after 

 which we adopted gauze dresses, made ac- 

 cording to the recommendation of Baron 

 Humboldt, exceedingly full, stiffly starched, 

 and standing out to a considerable distance. 

 In this costume, with a large veil of the 

 same material covering my head, and se- 

 cured by tucking in round my waist, I found 

 some relief ; but even thus equipped, was 

 invariably attacked wherever the pressure 

 of my body brought the dress close to the 

 skin. I squeezed many of these torturing 

 insects to death, as they were penetrating 

 under the ligature which confined the jacket 

 and trowsers round the waist. On the 

 whole, however, the protection afforded by 

 this expedient was such, as to enable me to 

 amuse myself with reading, and divert my 



VOL. I. 1 



