Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 2 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
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This Is Difficult
To Accomplish; And Often When You Succeed (For Instance, In Going Up
The Rio Magdalena, Where You
Travel with some degree of convenience),
you are forced, in order to avoid being suffocated by the heat, to
come
Out from beneath your toldo, and walk about in the open air. A
feeble wind, smoke, and powerful smells, scarcely afford any relief in
places where the insects are very numerous and very voracious. It is
erroneously affirmed that these little animals fly from the peculiar
smell emitted by the crocodile. We were fear fully stung at Bataillez,
in the road from Carthagena to Honda, while we were dissecting a
crocodile eleven feet long, the smell of which infested all the
surrounding atmosphere. The Indians much commend the fumes of burnt
cow-dung. When the wind is very strong, and accompanied by rain, the
mosquitos disappear for some time: they sting most cruelly at the
approach of a storm, particularly when the electric explosions are not
followed by heavy showers.
Anything waved about the head and the hands contributes to chase away
the insects. "The more you stir yourself, the less you will be stung,"
say the missionaries. The zancudo makes a buzzing before it settles;
but, when it has assumed confidence, when it has once begun to fix its
sucker, and distend itself, you may touch its wings without its being
frightened. It remains the whole time with its two hind legs raised;
and, if left to suck to satiety, no swelling takes place, and no pain
is left behind.
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