1 your evenings' guests," for at least four months in. the year; during which time, an inhabitant of Canada might as well hope to reverse the current of the St. Lawrence, as to secure himself a moment's relief from the insatiable stings of these unwearied tormentors. No spot, however sacred to repose, can fix a barrier to their entrance; and the reign of disquietude and pain is, during summer, absolute and universal. The Wolf, the Bear, and the Rattle-snake,-names which are sufficient, to intimidate the stoutest European heart,are, gentle and innoxious when compared with the Musquito. If you never walk the woods without company, you will avoid all danger from the two former; and, by remaining within doors, will sufficiently secure yourself from the deadly sting of the latter. But neither your house nor your bed affords you any refuge from those long-legged destroyers of your comfort, the Musquitoes. Go where you will, they will find you + In MOORE's song of The Evil Spirit of the Woods, in which the poet shews his very accurate knowledge of Canadian localities, the Bull-frog and Musquito are thus associated together as insupportable plagues: VOL. I. There let every noxious thing R 14 out; and, by continually darting their veinpiercing proboscis into your legs, face, and hands, they will render your existence a burden as long as you are thus infested. You will therefore pray for the speedy removal of these mischievous insects, as for a blessing of no ordinary magnitude. In the Autumn of 1818, an Irish gentleman of respectability, who, from various disappointments in life, had contracted a fixed dislike to his native country, arrived in Canada, and settled in the London District. He was such a passionate lover of solitude, that he actually became charmed with the wilds of America. He and I were in the habit of taking a walk together, once or twice a week, on the banks of the river Thames. On these little excursions, he never failed to discover some romantic spot, and in its praise would exhaust all the eloquence of which he was possessed-always taking special care to conclude his observations with some choice reflections on "the pleasures of retirement in this enchanting quarter of the globe." As solitude had few charms for me, I only nodded my assent, and smiled. When Spring arrived, my friend was greatly offended by the croaking of the frogs, which caused him to relax considerably in his premature praises of the country. But when the Horse-fly, the Musquito, and the Sand-fly made their appearance, Othello's occupation was entirely gone. Instead of spending his time, as he had formerly 1 done, in magnifying the delights of solitude and retirement as found in the wilds of America, "he went upon the other tack," and was continually reprobating the country, and denouncing the most impassioned, but alas! ineffectual, anathemas upon its insect-inhabitants. Before the expiration of his first Summer in the Province, he considered the plagues of Egypt as gentle chastisements, when compared with the plagues of Canada. I have often laughed most heartily when I have seen him rubbing his fingers, and scratching his legs, though at the time I was myself enduring as much pain as it was possible for poisonous insects to inflict. I certainly did experience a mitigation of my own sufferings whenever I could spend an hour or two in the company of my friend, listening to his execrations of a country in the praise of which he had, a short time before, been so extravagantly lavish. Though I must confess, this mitigation was not on account of any particular sympathy which I felt for the tortures he endured, but it had its origin in the ludicrous contrast between his present just vituperations and his past unwarrantable encomiums. Children suffer more, if possible, than adults, from the Musquito and Black-fly. Their heads and necks swell to such a degree, as to render them not only the greatest sufferers, but the most wretched spectacles of afflicted humanity. Though the sting of the BLACK-FLY, at the mo ment of infliction, produces little pain, it is nevertheless equally as poisonous as that of the Musquito, and of the two, is rather more to be dreaded. The Musquito, like a true warrior, disdaining assassin-like attempts, does not seek concealment for the accomplishment of his designs, but makes an open and an honourable attack at the peril of his own life, and leaves you every opportunity of self-defence: While the Black-fly, like the midnight murderer, lies in wait all day, and as the night draws near steals from his hiding-place: But still afraid to meet you face to face, he seeks an ambush in your hair, and executes his dark designs in perfect safety; for you seldom feel his bite, until after he decamps satiated with your blood. From the bite of the Musquito, a white swelling, not unlike that caused by the sting of a nettle, is immediately produced: In a short time, it becomes exceedingly painful and itching, notwithstanding which, if you had only to endure a single or a dozen bites, it would signify very little. But when your hands and arms, your face and neck, your legs and thighs, are literally covered with bites,and that not only once a week or once a day, but every minute of your life during the months of June, July, August, and September, it signifies more than words can express. I once read the Travels of a Frenchman,—I do not now recollect his name, who resided some time in America. His sole objection to the country was derived from the musquito and other insects, which he thought sufficient to drive any man away. This, I think, was proceeding rather too far, although I consider them a perpetual torment, and perhaps have suffered as much from their malignity as the annoyed Frenchman,-for they respect neither particular nations nor persons,-I believe I should never think of leaving the country against which I had no greater objection, than its harbouring musquitoes, if in other respects it answered the expectations which I had previously formed. At the same time, I am free to confess, that if I knew the Deity designed to employ musquitoes, as the only instruments in the execution of his revealed threatenings on the unrighteous, I should almost dread the idea of eternal punishment as much as I do at this moment: And, therefore, if the Frenchman had not been induced, either by necessity or expediency, to leave his native country for the Canadas, but had left it only for the sake of his own pleasure, I should deem the operation of that motive which he mentions sufficiently powerful to make him measure back his steps again. The SHAD-FLY makes its appearance about the beginning of June, but disappears in less than a fortnight. These insects bear a very close resemblance to moths, and have little tendency during their brief stay, to increase the stranger's attachment to the country. The first Canadians, how |