The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1880-04-08
The Paradise of Insects.

the Upper Amazons can have any idea
of the number and voracity of the insect
torments which work their wicked will
on the bodies of the unfortunates ex-
posed to their attacks. The sancu-
dos," or small sand-fies, form by far
the most important section. In the vii
lagos, round which the forest is cleared
away for some distance, the sancudos
are generally pretty quiet during the
day, except where darkness prevails
there they are ever busy, and are a per-
feet plague. The triumphant note of a
sancudo which has made his way under
your curtain is more annoying than even
his bite; and should you have been
careless in getting into bed, and been
accompanied by two or three of these
blood suckers, we will defy you to sleep
until you have exterminated them.
In the forest and on the river the san
cudos are always busy. Men sometimes
get into the vessels tops, and there
cover themselves with sacks, notwith-
standing the heat, rather than remain
below exposed to their attacks. Fortu-
nately they can not stand current of
air, and so when under way the vessel
is comparatively free from them, but
when at anchor these pests are some
thing awful. To get rid of them is next
to impossible. Creosote will keep them
off, but the remedy is as bad as the
disease. Whitewash will drive them
away, but when dry it's power ceases !;
and the only thing to do is either to
cover all exposed parts of the body with
htanK In
else to "grin and bear it,
Scarcely less troublesome than the
sancudos are the mosquitoes, although
they have the negative merit of biting
only by day. They are minute crea-
lures, not much larger than q pins
head; they prefer the backs of the
hands to any other spot for their at
lacks. But, unlike the sancudo, which,
when undisturbed, gorges himself until
unable to fly, and becomes an easy prey
to your avenging finger, the mosquito
never seems to take too much to prevent
his easy escape on the slightest appear
ance of danger, being evidently lust as
wide-awake when full as when empty.
Everywhere in long grass turks the
"moquim," little red insect so small
as to be almost imperceptible, but which
fastens ON the legs, causing the most in
tolerable itching.
There is fly which burrows in the
skin and deposits an egg, both in hu
man beings and animals. This pro-
duces maggot, similar in shape to that
OF the common blow-fly, but much
larger, probably analogous to the Gui-
nea-WOrm.
Then there are "chigos," which
burrow mostly in the soles of the feet.
You feel an intense itching, and on ex-
animation find a little thing like pea
just under the epidermis; this is the bag
containing the young chigos, which must
be carefully picked out with the point of
knife, and the cavity left filled with
tobacco ash.
Huge spiders abound, whose very an
pearance inspires a wholesome dread of
a nearer acquaintance, but which are
harmless enough if let alone. In fact.
on board the steamers, almost eyery
cabin is tenanted by one large spider.
whose presence is tolerated on account
of his being deadly foe to cockroaches.
which abominablo creatures swarm on
board. Sometimes he is not visible for
a fortnight or more at time; but he
leaves tokens OF g having been THERE"
in the shape of the empty husks of cock
reaches, from which he has carefully
distracted the interior. These spiders
have the power of springing upon their
prey from distance, and some of them
are SO large and powerful as to kill and
devour small birds.
In passing through the narrow forest
paths it is necessary to be on the look
out for the wood ticks, which are yerv
difficult to get rid of if once firmly AT.
tached; also for the huge black ants, an
inch and a half in length, with stings
like a hornets; and the sauba ant.
without sting, but armed with nippers
like pair of surgical bone-forceps.
which are running about every where.
One may sometimes chance upon a col
umn of the dreaded g fire-ants, - march.
ing in regular military order; and if he
does, the only thing is to bolt at once.
for neither man nor beast may withstand
the fire-ant and live. When at LENGTH
the traveller stops to rest, he must take
care to examine the camping ground to
see that neither centipede nor scorpion
is there.
Frequently both centipedes and scor-
pions are found on the steamers. intro
duced no doubt, in the wood used for
fuel. One day while the writer was
watching the hands taking wood from
canoes alongside, from one of the logs
pitched on board was dislodged a scor-
pion, which fell on the naked left arm of
a man keeping tally at the gangwav.
Astonished by his sudden flight through
the air, the animal remained perfectly
still. The man never moved a muscle.
and quietly raising his right hand, flip
ped it away with his fingers and thumb.
1t was very neatly and coolly done; and
he thus escaped sting, which he no
doubt would have received had he tried
to brush it hastily away.-Harper's
Young People.
Distribution of Plants.