100 



diminution of the water, and the destruction of 

 the woods ; but the effects of these changes are 

 as slow as the progress of cultivation. The towns 

 of Angostura, Nueva Barcelona, and Mompox, 

 where from the want of police, the streets, the 

 great squares, and the interior of court-yards are 

 covered with brush-wood*, are sadly celebrated 

 for the abundance of zancudoes. 



Men born in the country, whether they be 

 whites, mulattoes, negroes, or Indians, all suffer 

 from the sting of these insects. But, as cold 

 does not render the north of Europe uninhabita- 

 ble, so the moschettoes do not prevent men 

 from dwelling in countries where they abound, 

 if these countries, by their situation and govern- 

 ment, afford resources for agriculture and indus- 

 try. The inhabitants pass their lives in com- 

 plaining de la plaga, del insufrible tormento de 

 las moscas ; yet, notwithstanding these continual 

 complaints, they do not seek the less, and even 

 with a sort of predilection, the commercial 

 towns of Mompox, Santa Marta, and Rio la 

 Hacha. Such is the force of habit in evils which 

 we suffer every hour of the day, that the three 

 missions of San Borja, Atures, and Esmeralda, 

 where, to make use of an hyperbolical expres- 

 sion of the monks, there are more moschettoes 



* With iatropha gossypifolia, scoparia, cleome, croton, & 

 cassia. 



