The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-02
MOSQUITOES.
Places Where the Annoying Insects
Are Most Numerous.

From the Pail Mall Gazette.
No one of experience would venture to
say which is the country most afflicted
by mosquitoes, much more the spot Bur
it is something to identify the place
which, all who have visited 1t, saving one
traveller, declare unrivalled. Such visit
| ors have been few, but every one Of them
was man specially qualified to pro-
nounce. 1t is a canal, but Of natures
forming. which connects the sarawak and
Samaharan rivers of Borneo. Boats US
ing II avoid a sea passage and gain sew
eral hours in time, and. on the homeWard
voyage especially, Malays are very far
from Indifferent to such advantages. But,
| though a storm be raging outside, they
think twice before risking the short cut,
In fact, 1t is officers of the government
charged with important news, or belatei
ana SICK for Christian welcome before
sleeping, who dare the horrors OF that
passage Naval officers also have used IL
not infrequently, gathering yarn TO spin
for the rest Of their natural lives. Sir
Spencer St. John Is the single witness who
thinks there is one more terrible place
on earth, and that" he says, lis Pan
nam, at the entrance of the Siam river
Sir Spencer proceeds: 1T took us the
whole night to get through, and no one
was able to close his eyes. The leaves
OF the ntpa palms nearly met over our
heads, and every time one was touched
swarm of mosquitoes settled upon u.s.
l endeavored to shelter myself under a
blanket, but the heat was so great as to
compel me to unwlllngly face the enemy
i have heard of men exposed to this an
noyance being thrown into fever by con-
slant irritation, and ! can well believe
it The last remark must allude to na-
tfVes, and to the irritation of mosquitoes
in general sense, for 1t Is really bathoS
applied to this particular spot.
Once on a time we also longcd for Chris
tan SOpfefV and insisted he
short cut. The mosquitoes were so thick,
that one could not see the paddler in the
BOWS; clapping the palms together one
felt the crush of insects bet Ween them
and black paste remained; but we did
not spend more than an hour, happily, in
getting through. A few days afterwards
capt. Reid, OF her majesty ship Rifieman,
passed, going on a visit to the Rajah. For
three years he had been surveying in the
China seas, and his crew were Injured to
mosquitoes. IL men can be. But with diff
hcuity they reached Kuching, and four
were taken stra ight to hospital Doubt
less the oars In that narrow passage, silak-
ing the nipa leaves, which are half-sub-
merged, brought every mosquito within
reach upon them.
How do the small nends live? The dues-
ton obtrudes itself in spots like this. Evil
IDENTIFY they get no taste OF blood. Men
do not pass once in week, animals there
are none in a grove Of nipa palms, always
under water. So far as We can see, their
lancets and sucking tubes serve no pur-
pose. for If they eat one another all the
ingenious apparatus IS unnecessary. 1t
is the same case with feas in Southern
Europe and elsewhere The cornhelds are
alive with them, and though at harvest
time one in millions may find victim,
generations have lived and died In the
months preceding Darwin's experiments
with insect-eating plants may possibly
throw light upon the matter. Keeping
some under conditions which forbade
them to catch insects, and others of the
same species unrestrained, he found that
although both grew and Powered with
equal vigor apparently those deprived OF
animal food did not readily set their seed.
nor ripen 1t when set. while the young
plants were weakly. A supply of insects
appears to be necessary for the preserva-
ton of the species. 50, perhaps, the
minute proportion Of mosquitoes which
find dead fish or something Of the sort
keep the pernicious breed fiourishtng.
THE butcher offered me his hand this
morning" said the hired girl.