TITEIE VORACITY IN CERTAIN PLACES. 
285 
tranquil night’s rest, for the jejen is not a nocturnal insect, 
^ince the year 1801, the great blue-winged gnat (Cuiex 
e yanopterus) has appeared in such numbers, that the poor 
•'ihabitnats of Simiti know not bow to procure an undis- 
turbed sleep. In the marshy channels (esteros) of the isle 
°f Baru, near Carthagena, is found a little white fly called 
Ca fafi. It is scarcely visible to the naked eye, and causes 
Vf 'ry painful swellings. The toldos or cottons used for 
’"osquito-curtains, are wetted to prevent the cafafi pene- 
trating through the interstices left by the crossing threads. 
I'his insect, happily rare elsewhere, goes up in January, by 
tfe channel (dique) of Mahates, as far as Morales. When 
w e went to this village in the month of May, we found 
there cimul'ue and zancudos, but no jejens. 
The insects most troublesome at Orinoco, or as the Creoles 
Sa y, the most ferocious (los mas feroces), are those of the 
Sfeat cataracts of Esmeralda and Mandavaca. On the liio 
Magdalena the Cuiex cyanopterus is dreaded, particularly at 
Mompox, Chiloa, and Tamalameca. At these places this 
jQseet is larger and stronger, and its legs blacker. It is dif- 
ficult to avoid smiling on hearing the missionaries dispute 
about the size and voracity of the mosquitos at different 
t’arts of the same river. In a region the inhabitants of which 
ure ignorant of all that is passing in the rest of the world, 
fbis is the favourite subject of conversation. “ How I pity 
J°Ur situation !” said the missionary of the Eaudales to the 
jMssionary of Cassiquiare, at our departure ; “ you are alone, 
||be me, in this country of tigers and monkeys ; with you 
as h is still more rare, and the heat more violent ; but as for 
m y mosquitos (mias moscas) 1 can boast that with one of 
•Bine I would beat three of yours.” 
This voracity of insects in certain spots, the fury with 
yhich they attack man,* the activity of the venom varying 
same species, are very remarkable facts ; which find 
hou analogy, however, in the classes of large animals. The 
cr ocodile of Angostura pursues men, while at Heuva Barce- 
■ * This voracity, this appetite for blood, seems surprising in little 
^sects, that live on vegetable juices, and in a country almost entirely 
inhabited. M What would these animals eat, if we did not pass this 
a y • ” say the Creoles, in going through countries where there are only 
tr °codiles covered with a scaly skin, and hairy monkeys. 
