372 NOTES OF A BOTANIST 
(called pari in Brazil and cacuri in Venezuela) in 
the doorways during the day. It consists merely 
of strips of the Gravatana palm tied together with 
sipo, but with interspaces wide enough for a wasp 
to pass through, and yet it is said to be quite 
sufficient to prevent the entrance of mosquitoes 
and it allows a little light to enter. 
About sunset on some days, but not every day, 
we are visited by a sand-fly, the marui'm of Brazil, 
ehen of Venezuela, which, though but a mere speck 
to the eye, and when flying scarcely distinguishable 
from a grain of dust, inflicts a more painful wound 
than any of the others. With me it always causes 
more or less inflammation of the part. 
In travelling along the rivers either of white 
or black water, the greatest plague by day seems 
to be the mutiica (in Venezuela called tabano). 
The species most frequent on the Amazon is 
not larger than the common house-fly ; it is a 
deep, almost black-green with a few white dots, 
and its proboscis is short and broad so that it 
cannot penetrate through clothing ; but it bites 
fiercely on exposed parts of the body, and from its 
abundance is a very great pest. On the Rio Negro 
two or three species are frequent, all closely re- 
sembling the horse-fly (indeed, I believe this is the 
name it bears in Demerara), and possessing long 
needle-like proboscides which are more penetrating 
than even those of the carapana. Their wound 
is attended with swelling and causes great irritation, 
especially when on the sides and soles of the feet. 
Generally they are infrequent on land, but in Sao 
Jeronymo they were abundant, and about nightfall 
used to bite most savagely, allowing themselves 
