SLAGA DE LAS MOSCAS. 
273 
ground to the height of twelve or fifteen feet. At May- 
pures the Indians quit the village at night, to go and sleep 
on the little islets in the midst of the cataracts. There 
they enjoy some rest; the mosquitos appearing to shun 
An- loaded with vapours. We found eveiywhere fewer in 
the middle of the river than near its banks ; and thus less 
|s suffered in descending the Orinoco than in going up in a 
Persons who have not navigated the great rivers of 
equinoctial America, for instance, the Orinoco and the 
Magdalena, can scarcely conceive how, at every instant, 
Without intermission, you may be tormented by insects 
fl ying in the air; and how the multitude of these little 
animals may render vast regions almost uninhabitable, 
'vhateyer fortitude be exercised to endure pain without 
complaint, whatever interest may be felt in the objects of 
scientific research, it is impossible not to be constantly 
disturbed by the mosquitos, zancudos, jejens, and tempra- 
fleros, that cover the face and hands, pierce the clothes 
with their long needle-formed suckers, and getting into 
fle mouth and nostrils, occasion coughing and sneezing 
v' oenever any attempt is made to speak in the open air. 
i} the missions of the Orinoco, in the villages on the banks 
°i the river, surrounded by immense forests, the plaga de las 
Woscas, or the plague of the mosquitos, affords an inex- 
haustible subject of conversation. When two persons meet 
11 the morning, the first questions they address to each 
other are: “How did you find the zancudos during the 
mght ? How are we to-day for the mosquitos ?” * These 
/locations remind us of a Chinese form of politeness, which 
I ' u ‘c ate s the ancient state of the country where it took 
. ‘ rt “- Salutations were made heretofore in the Celestial 
.‘T'l-e in the following words, vou-to-hou, “ Have you been 
cornmodcd in the night by the serpents ?” 
fjF 7 ?e geographical distribution of the insects of the family 
Hot PUl0e P resents vei 7 remarkable phenomena. It does 
} appear to depend solely on heat of climate, excess of 
"mdity, or the thickness of forests, but on local eir- 
Que le hat parecido los aancvdoe de noche ? 
^ 05 quito S ? 
V °L. IX 
Como stamoa hoy do 
