Harvey and his comrade had been perforce left in their distress, as it would have been impossible to persuade or force any of their companions to go in search of them. None of the camp, Indian or negro, would venture after nightfall into the eerie caverns of the bush. Before sleep came to me the rain fell with great violence, making a sound like waves lashing upon rocks during a storm, and innumerable sand-flies found their way under the mosquito curtain, and settled down to torment my aching limbs. The “pesky” sand-fly, small and insignificant, can inflict more suffering upon the human race than many another insect fifty times its size. The sensation of myriads of these small flies hovering around my feet felt at first as if innumerable particles of gritty dust had got between the sheets, and I paid little heed to them; but after about an hour of their attention I was fully convinced of my mistake, and realised that the sand-flies had discovered a new feeding-ground. Some years ago, when on board a steamer which had run ashore on the Tampico River, in Mexico, I had experiences of what these small pests were capable of accomplishing. On that occasion a companion and myself had been so severely bitten about the ankles, wrists, and face that any casual observer would have avoided contact with us for fear of taking smallpox. Dreading a further experience of these insects, I covered up my face with a handkerchief, and mumbled to myself the poet’s plea: “I crave but this: That from the different kinds Of insects cursing night and day (The entomologist claims that he finds Five hundred thousand so they say), “Thou wilt at once destroy, annihilate, Permit no longer to exist-- Efface, cut off, rub out, obliterate The pesky sandfly from the list!” At last half-stifled I fell into a disturbed slumber, from which, very early in the morning, I was awakened by the screams of the birds, monkeys, and parrots all round, and on looking out of the hut the strange beauty of the scene made me eager to get up and go outside to take ample stock of the camp and surroundings. The heavy morning mists hung all around, imparting a soft, mysterious aspect to the forest. It was as if an elusive veil of finest silver gauze had been spread from tree to tree by hidden fairy fingers. The smoke ascending from the camp fires seemed almost solid against the pearly background of the [Illustration: SEBASTIAN.]