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pine-apple, perceptibly moderated the itching of 

 old stings; without diminishing the swellings, 

 they rendered them less painful. When you 

 hear the complaints, that are made of these tor- 

 menting insects in hot countries, it is difficult to 

 believe, that their absence, or rather their sud- 

 den disappearance, could become a subject of 

 inquietude. The inhabitants of Esmeralda re- 

 lated to us, that in the year 1795, an hour before 

 sunset, when the moschettoes form a very thick 

 cloud, the air was suddenly free from them 

 during twenty minutes. Not one insect was 

 perceived, although the sky was without clouds, 

 and no wind announced rain. It is necessary 

 to have lived in those countries, to comprehend 

 the degree of surprise, which the sudden disap- 

 pearance of the insects must have produced. 

 The inhabitants congratulated each other, and 

 inquired, whether this state of happiness, this 

 relief from pain (felicidady alivio), could be of 

 any duration. But soon, instead of enjoying 

 the present, they yielded to chimerical fears, and 

 imagined, that the order of nature was perverted 

 Some old Indians, the sages of the place, assert- 

 ed, that the disappearance of the insects must 

 be the precursor of a great earthquake. Warm 

 disputes arose; the least noise amid the foliage 

 of the trees was listened to with an attentive 

 ear; and when the air was again filled with 

 moschettoes, they were almost hailed with plea- 



