107 



year 1801, the great blue winged gnat (culex 

 cyanopterus) has appeared in such numbers, that 

 the poor inhabitants of Simiti know not how to 

 procure a tranquil sleep. In the marshy chan- 

 nels (esteros) of the isle of Baru, near Cartha- 

 gena, is found a little white fly, called cafqft*. 

 It is scarcely visible to the naked eye, and 

 causes very painful swellings. The toldos or 

 cottons used for moschetto curtains, must be 

 wet, in order that the cafqfi may not penetrate 

 through the interstices left by the crossing- 

 threads. This insect, happily rare elsewhere, 

 goes up, in January, by the channel or dique of 

 Mahates, as far as Morales. When we went to 

 this village in the month of May, we found 

 there simul'ue and zancudoes^ but no jejens, 



Slight differences of food and climate appear 

 to change, in the same species of moschettoes 

 and gnats, the activity of the poison, which these 

 animals distil from their sharp sucker, toothed 

 at the lower end. The insects most trouble- 

 some at Oroonoko, or as the Creoles say, the 

 most ferocious (los mas feroees), are those of the 

 Great Cataracts of Esmeralda, and Mandavaca. 

 On the Rio Magdalena the culex cyanopterus is 

 dreaded, particularly at Mompox, Chilloa, and 

 Tamalameca. At these places this insect is 

 larger and stronger, and it's legs blacker. It 



* Perhaps of the section of culiciform tipulce. 



