AMAZONIAN MOSQUITOES AT HOME.
There are several varieties of mosquitoes, some working at night, and others in the daytime; between them they divide the hours, and give their victim no chance for rest. The Indians say they always come in greater swarms than usual when a traveller is approaching, and evidently they can scent blood from afar. Frank said "the mosquitoes fairly danced with joy at the arrival of our party." A mass meeting was called, which was attended by some millions of mosquitoes, "very hungry and very thirsty." This mass meeting was kept up as long as they were in the region of the upper and middle Amazon. After passing Manaos, on their way down the river, there were few mosquitoes, and these few were not as voracious as their more uncivilized brethren.
Parts of Brazil and Bolivia will long remain unsettled, owing to the perpetual annoyance caused by the mosquitoes. Their powers were tested by one traveller, Dr. Spruce, who, in the interest of science, allowed the insects to feed upon him without interruption, and found they took three ounces of blood daily!
Our friends were provided with mosquito nettings, and brought them into use on entering the mosquito-haunted region. At night they surrounded their beds with them, and by day kept their heads enveloped in the small nets made for that purpose; in this way they managed to keep from being devoured bodily, or bled to death, but could not escape the annoyance and constant inconvenience of the presence of the dreaded carapana, as he is called by the Brazilians.
The mosquito is not the only insect pest of the Amazon valley. Professor Orton says the pium, or sand-fly, is almost as bad as the better-known tormentor. He has two triangular, horny lancets, which leave a small circular red spot on the skin. There are several species, all working by day, and relieving the mosquito from sunrise to sunset. Then there is the maruim, which resembles the pium, and inhabits some, but not all, of the valleys; Humboldt estimated that there was a million of them to a cubic foot of air where he was. There is also the mutuca, which resembles a horse-fly; one variety has a lancet half an inch long, and he knows how to use it to advantage.
There is a carapato, or tick, which mounts to the tips of the blades of grass, and attaches himself to any one brushing against them. The carapatas bury themselves so deeply that their heads break off at any attempt to pull them out; their bite is painless, but it often causes sores and ulcers. Happily, their range is less extensive than that of the mosquito, and some parts of the country are wholly free from them.
Frank asked Manuel how the natives, who had no nets, managed to get along in the height of the mosquito season.
