IN PANAMA 
21 5 
a platform of poles, under which the mosos crept when the evening rain 
came on. The Pioneer kept a lantern burning, as he said it scared away 
the vampire bats. It did not frighten the insects, however, for the morn- 
ing light showed four white men well speckled with red spots. Just 
what the insect was could not be discovered, but it was most industrious. 
1 counted fifty-seven well defined bites between knee and ankle, and 
there were others. I also discovered how to scratch these bites and 
suffer no ill effects, and Oh! the joy of such scratching! The remedy 
was a five per cent, solution of formine applied to the surface after an 
orgy of scratching. In two hours after the application, all the poison 
either from bite or finger nails wholly disappeared. It being Sunday, our 
CAMP RIO NEGRO. 
mosos piously refrained from work, but in spite of their scruples, they 
were induced to build a shelter for themselves, which they finally did, 
getting the roof on just before the afternoon downpour of rain. 
In speaking of the lack of enterprise that the natives show, it must 
not for a moment be imagined that they are behind the times in every- 
thing. In the utilization of public money, for example, they could give 
Tammany Hall points of value. To cite an instance: The home gov- 
eminent at Panama City appropriated three thousand dollars for the 
building of a bridge over a river that flowed near a certain town. 
Shortly after that one of the holders of the fund approached the Pioneer 
and asked for an estimate as to the cost of putting up the bridge, remark- 
