Chap. XIIL] 



LEECHES. 



481 



which is kept damp by frequent showers, they are found 

 in tormenting profusion. They are terrestrial, never 

 visiting ponds or streams. In size they are about an 

 inch in length, and as fine as a common knitting needle ; 

 but they are capable of distension till they equal a quill 

 in thickness, and attain a length of nearly two inches. 

 Their structure is so flexible that they can insinuate 

 themselves through the meshes of the finest stocking, 

 not only seizing on the feet and ankles, but ascending 

 to the back and throat and fastening on the tenderest 

 parts of the body. In order to exclude them, the coffee 

 planters, who live amongst these pests, are obliged to 



LAND LEECHES IN PURSUIT. 



envelope their legs in a leech gaiters " made of closely 

 woven cloth. The natives smear their bodies with oil, 

 tobacco ashes, or lemon juice 1 ; the latter serving not 

 only to stop the flow of blood, but to expedite the 

 healing of the wounds. In moving, the land leeches 

 have the power of planting one extremity on the earth 

 and raising the other perpendicularly to watch for their 

 victim. Such is their vigilance and instinct, that on 



1 The Minorite friar, Odoric of peel, anointing themselves with 



Portenau, writing in a.d. 1320, the juice thereof, so that the 



says that the gem-finders who leeches may not be able to hurt 



sought the jewels around Adam's them." — Hakltjyt, Voy. vol. ii. 



Peak, " take lemons which they p. 58. 



I I 



