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In fact, my notion of "twisting in and out" so often mentioned, was immediately pronounced as a trap for musquitos, scorpions, and such like. We were to have our hut made partly of boughs, partly of sods, partly of mud. This was to keep it cool.
Besides the whole of that part of the country, as well as all the coast to the head Cape Sable and up the Bay of Fundy, is bound with fog almost three months in the year. In this River you have none above the falls, nor have you Musquitos here in any sort of comparison to any other part of this country.
At night, they took up their lodging close to the banks of the river, and made a fire, but the musquitos swarmed about them in such numbers, that their quarters were almost untenable: They followed them into the smoke, and almost into the fire, which, hot as the climate was, they could better endure than the stings of these insects, which were an intolerable torment.
This brigade was encamped on the Arkansas shore opposite Fort Pillow, and did some very effective fighting against the musquitos, which that country produces in the greatest profusion. An attack on the fort, with such a small force, was out of the question, and the principal aggressive work was done by the navy at long range.
As we advanced northward, and the climate became warmer, we found these sheds still more slight: They were built, like the others, of twigs, and covered with bark; but none of them were more than four feet deep, and one side was entirely open: The close side was always opposed to the course of the prevailing wind, and opposite to the open side was the fire, probably more as a defence from the musquitos than the cold.
"And that," said another, as a whole swarm of iron musquitos buzzed by him, "is what we Americans call variations on Yankee Doodle." Just then there was a tremendous crash amongst the branches, and we dashed out from our cover, and across to the redoubt, only just in time; for the next moment the ground on which we had been standing was strewn with the heavy boughs of the pecan-tree.
The frogs in the ditches, which croak ten times loader than any frogs in Europe, gave notice of rain by an incessant noise that was almost intolerable, and the gnats and musquitos, which had been very troublesome even during the dry weather, were now become innumerable, swarming from every plash of water like bees from a hive; they did not, however, much incommode us in the day, and the stings, however troublesome at first, never continued to itch above half an hour, so that none of us felt in the day the effects of the wounds they had received in the night.
Our establishment has hitherto been remarkably healthy; the sickness which has occurred, being almost entirely the result of accidental wounds, or the bites of musquitos and sand-flies; the latter, being irritated by rubbing, have produced, in some instances, very serious sores, which have baffled the greatest attention of our surgeons: one feature in these ulcers is, that frequent changes of applications are required, no individual remedy appearing to agree, at farthest, for more than five days; generally, but three or four; nor has any kindly disposition to heal shewn itself, until a degree of salivation has been produced, by giving the patient a grain of calomel, night and morning.
We now perceived that the colour of their skin was not so dark as it appeared, what we had taken for their complexion, being the effects of dirt and smoke, in which, we imagined, they contrived to sleep, notwithstanding the heat of the climate, as the only means in their power to keep off the musquitos.
When they paid us their visits, we all turned out, and, armed with muskets, commenced an assault upon them, which soon caused them to evacuate our domain; but similar success did not attend our endeavours to dislodge the swarms of musquitos, scorpions, lizards, and centipedes from our habitations.
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