374 TRAVELS IN , 
with attention, I felt my face fuddenly wettetl 
by a cauftic liquor, of a very ftrong alkaline 
fmelL The fprinkling was accompanied by a 
fort of explofion, Ipud enough to be heard at 
fome diftance. Unfortunately fome of the li- 
quor entered one of my eyes, and occafioned 
fuch infupportable pain, that 1 thought I fhould 
have loft the fight of it. I was obliged to keep 
it covered for feveral days, and bathe it from 
time to time with miilk. In every part of my 
face that the alkaline liquor had touched, I 
felt the pain of a burn ; and every where the 
ikin changed to a deep brown, which wore 
out only by degrees and a long time after. 
This will not be furprifing to many, who al- 
ready are acquainted with the fame property in 
feveral infeds of the fame genus ; for inftance, 
in that beautiful golden-green bupreftis, which 
is fo common in our kitchen-rgardens in Eu- 
rope : but, as the infe£t of which I arn here 
fpeaking is much larger, and inhabits a very 
hot country, it is natural that the efFed pro- 
duced by it fhould be more ftriking ; though 
the liquor which oiir golden bupreftis ejeds 
at its enemy occafions a very fenfible fmart^ 
'^n^ its fineU is confiderably pungent. 
