patinho_--its miniature
reproduction--it possesses wonderful clinging powers, its legs with hook
attachment actually entering under the skin. Its chief delight consists
in inserting its head right under your cutaneous tissues, wherefrom it
can suck your blood with convenient ease. It is wonderfully adept at
this, and while I was asleep, occasionally as many as eight or ten of
these brutes were able to settle down comfortably to their work without
my noticing them; and some--and it speaks highly for their ability--were
even able to enter my skin (in covered parts of the body) in the day-time
when I was fully awake, without my detecting them. I believe that
previous to inserting the head they must inject some poison which deadens
the sensitiveness of the skin. It is only after they have been at work
some hours that a slight itching causes their detection. Then comes the
difficulty of extracting them. If in a rash moment you seize the
carrapato by the body and pull, its head becomes separated from its body
and remains under your skin, poisoning it badly and eventually causing
unpleasant sores. Having been taught the proper process of extraction, I,
like all my men, carried on my person a large pin. When the carrapato
was duly located--it is quite easy to see it, as the large body remains
outside--the pin was duly pushed right through its body. The carrapato,
thus surprised, at once let go with its clinging legs, which struggled
pitifully in the air. Then with strong tobacco juice or liquefied
carbolic soap, or iodine, you smeared all round the place where the head
was still inserted. The unpleasantness of these various beverages
immediately persuaded the brute to withdraw its head at once. You could
then triumphantly wave the pin and struggling carrapato in the air. You
were liberated from the unpleasant visitor. It was not uncommon while you
were extracting one--the operation took some little time--for two or
three others to find their way into your legs or body. I fortunately
possess blood which does not easily get poisoned, and felt no ill effects
from the hundreds of these brutes which fed on me during the entire
journey; but many people suffer considerably. My men, for instance, had
nasty-looking sores produced by the bites of the carrapato. The mules and
horses were simply swarming with these insects, which gave them no end of
trouble, especially as they selected the tenderest parts of the skin in
various localities of