Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 41 (Color Image)

0041	Among the Celestials : vol.1

CHAP. I.]

INSECT PESTS. 19

of the ridge and down the other, then up

again, and so on everlastingly. Even from

the summits of the ridges nothing was to be

seen ; we were simply swamped in forest, and

could not see a yard beyond it. I know of

nothing more depressing than this, to struggle

on, forcing a way for the mules through the

undergrowth, hauling and shoving them up the

slopes and rocky gullies, and then tired and

exhausted and out of temper to arrive at the

top and find ourselves still hedged in by trunks

of trees, still unable to see what lay beyond.

We were, too, afflicted by a pestering scourge

of mosquitoes and midges. In the daytime we

had the midges driving us wild with their

irritating pricks, and at night the mosquitoes in

clouds descended on us. By simply closing

the hand a dozen of them could be caught at

any time. Of course we had to wear veils the

whole day long, and keep our hands in our

pockets or wrapped round with cloth ; but even

then we suffered badly, washing was a positive

torture, and we had to dash through our

ablutions and get ourselves under cover again

as rapidly as possible. Gad-flies were another

form of torture invented for these parts. They

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