1848.] 
A SWARM OF WASPS. 
61 
preparing insects or skinning birds in tbe house, the 
window which opened into the street was generally 
crowded with boys and men, who would wait for hours, 
watching my operations with the most untiring curiosity. 
The constantly-repeated remark, on seeing a bird skinned, 
was, Oh, the patience of the whites !” Then one would 
whisper to another, “Does he take all the meat out?” 
“ Well, I never !” “ Look, he makes eyes of cotton !” 
And then would come a little conversation as to what 
they could possibly be wanted for. “ Para mostrar” (to 
show) was the general solution ; but they seemed to think 
it rather unsatisfactory, and that the English could hardly 
be such fools as to want to see a few parrot and pigeon 
skins. The butterflies they settled much to their own 
satisfaction, deciding that they were for the purpose of 
obtaining new patterns for printed calicoes and other 
goods, while the ugly insects were supposed to be valuable 
for “ remedios,” or medicine. We found it best quietly 
to assent to this, as it saved us a deal of questioning, and 
no other explanation that we could give would be at all 
intelligible to them. 
One day, while I was in the woods pursuing some 
insects, I was suddenly attacked by a whole swarm of 
small wasps, whose nest, hanging from a leaf, I had in- 
advertently disturbed. They covered my face and neck, 
stinging me severely, while in my haste to escape, and 
free myself from them, I knocked off my spectacles, which 
I did not perceive till I was at some distance from the 
spot, and as I was quite out of any path, and had not 
noticed where I was, it was useless to seek them. The 
pain of the stings, which was at first very severe, went 
