At Our First Stopping-Place Sand-Flies Were Very
Abundant At Night, Penetrating To Every Part Of The Body, And
Producing A More Lasting Irritation Than Mosquitoes.
My feet and
ankles especially suffered, and were completely covered with
little red swollen specks, which tormented me horribly.
On
arriving here we were delighted to find the house free from sand-
flies or mosquitoes, but in the plantations where my daily walks
led me, the day-biting mosquitoes swarmed, and seemed especially
to delight in attaching my poor feet. After a month's incessant
punishment, those useful members rebelled against such treatment
and broke into open insurrection, throwing out numerous inflamed
ulcers, which were very painful, and stopped me from walking. So
I found myself confined to the house, and with no immediate
prospect of leaving it. Wounds or sores in the feet are
especially difficult to heal in hot climates, and I therefore
dreaded them more than any other illness. The confinement was
very annoying, as the fine hot weather was excellent for insects,
of which I had every promise of obtaining a fine collection; and
it is only by daily and unremitting search that the smaller
kinds, and the rarer and more interesting specimens, can be
obtained. When I crawled down to the river-side to bathe, I often
saw the blue-winged Papilio ulysses, or some other equally rare
and beautiful insect; but there was nothing for it but patience,
and to return quietly to my bird-skinning, or whatever other work
I had indoors.
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