The first day we kept quiet. The soil was sandy, the grass was very luxuriant, growing at least two feet high. The sun is very oppressive in these clear spots or little prairies. We were tormented terribly by flies; the country of the Ovenga seems to be the paradise of flies. During the day they often wear a man’s life out. They sting you, they suck your blood, and they plague you beyond expression. As for musquitoes, they were swarming at this time of the year, and I would defy any one to sleep at night without musquito-nets, unless his skin were bullet proof, or as hard as the skin of an elephant or hippopotamus; and as mine was not, I always carried with me a net made of the grass-cloth of the interior. Three of these day-flies might have almost been called the three plagues; in fact, in these parts there was always some kind of insect to annoy one. Early in the morning, just at sunrise, the _igooguai_ makes its appearance and only disappears when the sun becomes too warm, as it does toward nine or ten o’clock. The igooguai is a small, almost imperceptible gnat, which appears in incredible numbers in the morning in certain regions. From ten o’clock it is seen no more till four, when its operations are recommenced, and last till sunset. [Sidenote: _THE IGOOGUAI GNAT._] It is a very, very small fly, which can hardly be noticed; it might be called a sand-fly, and a dreadful little creature it is. In some regions it is found in such great numbers that it is almost impossible to secure quiet in the morning, hence the people have to surround themselves with smoke to drive them away; and one must remain in his hut, which must be filled entirely with smoke, in order to be free from them. If I stood still outside for a while, my face and hands were covered with them. After they have fed themselves their bodies become almost of a blood color. You have hardly killed one hundred on your hand or face, when a few minutes after the same number is found. Of course you can not kill them one by one, so the only way is to pass your hand right over them all on your face. My unprotected skin was covered then with little red spots as if I had the measles. I really can not tell you how these _igooguai_ troubled me; sometimes they almost made me crazy. They are most determined blood-suckers, leaving a bite which itches terribly and for a considerable time. They are only found in open places generally.