274 
INTENSITY OP THE PLAGUE. 
cumstances that are difficult to characterise. It may be 
observed that the plague of mosquitos and zaneudos is not 
so general in the torrid zone as is commonly believed. ( ' u 
the table-lands elevated more than four hundred toise= 
above the level of the ocean, in the very dry plains remote 
from the beds of great rivers (for instance, at Cumana and 
Calabozo), there are not sensibly more gnats than in the 
most populous parts of Europe. They are perceived to 
augment enormously at Nueva Barcelona, and more to tn® 
west, on the coast that extends towards Cape Coders- 
Between the little harbour of Higuerote and the mouth ® 
the Bio Unare, the wretched inhabitants are accustom® 1 
to stretch themselves on the ground, and pass the nig» 
buried in the sand three or four inches deep, leaving on® 
the head only, which they cover with a handkerchief, i® 1 
suffer from the sting of insects, but in a manner easy 
bear, in descending the Orinoco from Cabruta toward- 
Angostura, and in going up from Cabruta towards TTruan-W 
between the latitudes of 7° and 8°. But beyond the mold > 
of the Bio Arauca, after having passed the strait of Bai' a ' 
guan, the scene suddenly changes. From this spot t' 1 
traveller may bid farewell to repose. If he have 
poetical remembrance of Dante, he may easily imagine » 
has entered the citta dolente, and he will seem to read 
the granite rocks of Baraguan these lines of the Inferno i-" 
Noi sem venuti al luogo, ov’ i* t’ho detto 
Che tu vedrai le genti dolorose. 
The lower strata of air, from the surface of the ground 
the height of fifteen or twenty feet, are absolutely filled "T 
venomous insects. If in an obscure spot, for instance in h- 
grottos of the cataracts formed by superincumbent blocks 
granite, you direct your eyes toward the opening enlighten® 
by the sun, you see clouds of mosquitos more or less tbn j 
At the mission of San Borja, the suffering from mosquitos ^ 
greater than at Carichana ; but in the Baudales, at Atnry 
and above all at Maypures, this suffering may be said 
attain its maximum. 1 doubt whether there he a 
country 
in 
upon earth where man is exposed to more cruel torment' 8 ^ 
the rainy season. Having passed the fifth degree of lath 11 ’ 
you are' somewhat less stung; but on the Upper Crin 
the stings are more painful, because the heat and the * 
