An Account of the Abipones, an Equestrian People of Paraguay, (2 of 3)

CHAPTER XXXII.

CONTINUATION OF THE SAME SUBJECT

The hotter parts both of North and South America breed a little worm, the daily cause of many groans, and not a few deaths. In appearance, and in its manner of skipping, it resembles the smallest of all possible fleas, and is hardly visible to the keenest eye, except in a very strong light, but so pungent that it must be felt by every one that is not made of stone or iron. This insect has so sharp a proboscis that it will pierce shoes, boots, gaiters, and every kind of clothing. It adheres a little while to the skin, and then penetrates the flesh, causing an intense itching: concealed there, as under a burrow, it surrounds itself with a round whitish little bladder, which it fills with eggs like the smallest nits. If this bladder remain many days under the skin, it increases to the size of a pea. This is a common sight. The longer the bladder adheres to the body, the more is the sense of pain deadened. Children are much the fittest to rout this enemy from his station, for the strong sight they possess enables them immediately to discover the little red spot which denotes the place where the worm has entered the flesh. The circumference of that spot they prick with a needle, gradually open the skin and flesh, and at length pluck out the whole bladder with the little worm buried amongst its nits. When this is put to a candle, it goes off with a noise like gunpowder. But if the bladder be broken in the operation, the humour effused from thence will occasion further pain, and the nits, by being scattered, will breed fresh worms in the same place. That this gnat teems with poisonous matter is evident from the circumstance that the hollow from which it has been eradicated, not unfrequently inflames, swells, and, unless quickly remedied, becomes gangrenous. The nails of the feet, which they frequently attack, always decay and fall off, and, to preserve life, it is often necessary to amputate the toes. Those who wish to guard against this inconvenience, should study cleanliness in their houses, for the said worms derive their origin from dust, excrement, and urine in a hot climate, and are bred in places which are seldom swept, which have been long uninhabited, and where the cold air has no access to dry the moisture. The stalls of oxen, horses, and mules, though in the open air, and without a roof, swarm with them. In the southern parts of Paraguay, where the air is not so hot, this noxious insect is unknown; indeed it is seen no where but in the territories of Buenos-Ayres, and Cordoba of the Tucumans. After passing six years in Paraguay, I was only acquainted with it by name, and it was not till my removal to the colony of St. Ferdinand, that I began to see, to suffer and to execrate this pest. Persons who live in a place infested by these insects, should have their feet daily examined; for however troublesome this inspection may be, much greater inconvenience will be incurred by the neglect of it. At one sitting a boy will often take out twenty or more worms, and when your fingers and nails are almost all filled with holes, and the soles of your feet so lacerated as to prevent you from walking a step without difficulty, you will yourself deplore your neglect and procrastination. I have known many persons confined to their beds for weeks, and others entirely deprived of the use of their feet on this account. Though these worms chiefly attack the feet, yet they sometimes, with still greater danger, creep to the other parts of the body, and make their nest in the arm or knee. Dogs, from their always lying on the ground, are most troubled with these insects; but they dexterously remove them from their flesh with their tongues, and heal the wound by licking it. Sows, tame monkeys, cats, goats, and sheep, are dreadfully tormented by them; but horses, asses, mules, and oxen, are protected against the common enemy by the hardness of their hoofs. The Americans should take care to fill up the hollow left by the bladder with tobacco-powder, ashes, or soap, otherwise the wound made by the needle, and infected with the poison of the insect, will become ulcerous, conceive matter, and, on occasion of inflammation, or violent motion of the feet, will end in a gangrene, or St. Anthony's fire. Hen's fat and a cabbage leaf applied to the feet, to allay the inflammation, have often been found of service. They write that the Brazilians, to keep off these worms, anoint their feet with an oil expressed from the unripe acorns of the acaju. Sailors daub themselves with pitch for the same purpose. All of us, in the fear of these and other insects, wore sheepskin leggings, but we found them weak and inefficient defences.

The common fleas of Europe, diffused like æther throughout every part of the air, are not only bred in Paraguay, but domineer most insolently here, as in their native soil. It is a remarkable circumstance that the plain itself, which is covered with grass, swarms with fleas. Persons sailing on the Paraguay, when they leave the vessel to pass the night or noon on the shore, though they lie on a green turf, where no man or dog ever trod, will return to the ship blackened with fleas. If this occurs in the green plain, what must we expect in the dry floors of an apartment, covered neither with brick, stone, nor board? In apartments of this kind have I dwelt seven years amongst the Abipones, during which time I had to contend with countless swarms of fleas. Do you enquire the remedy for fleas in America? There is but one, namely, patience. Columella, Kircher, and others, are indeed of opinion that these insects are not only driven away but destroyed by a decoction of odoriferous herbs scattered on the floor; and the Guaranies do certainly boil for this purpose a strong-scented herb, sprinkling the chamber with the water when boiling hot, and sweeping it once or twice. But if the fleas are destroyed by this means, I attribute it, not to the strong smell of the herbs, but to the water in which they are boiled, and to the mops by which they are swept away. Let the houses be cleared of dust and dogs, and rendered pervious to frequent winds; these are the best precautions against the smaller insects. Lice are never to be met with amongst the Abipones, except in the hair. The Spanish colonies abound in bugs, but I never beheld one in the towns of the Indians. Flying bugs, called binchuccas, are common in Cordoba, and other parts of Tucuman. By day they lurk in the chinks of roofs and chests, but fly out at night and make bloody war upon sleepers. They affect the part upon which they fasten with an intolerable heat, seeming rather to burn than bite the body. The red spots caused by the pain appear as if they had been raised by a caustic. Fatigued with fifteen days hard riding, through a continuous desert, and amid unceasing showers, I reached the town of Salabina, where repose was not only desirable, but almost indispensable for me; yet the whole night passed away without my being able to obtain a wink of sound sleep. I felt all my limbs pricked and heated, but was unable to discover the cause of this unusual pain. When day-light appeared, all who saw me covered with red spots pitied my misfortune, and assured me that the flying bugs were the cause of it. In another journey I passed the night in company with a noble priest, who, after we had partaken of a light supper, set out with me and his domestics to sleep in a neighbouring field. In that part of the country this is both customary and necessary, for in hot nights the houses swarm with bugs to such a degree that it is impossible to get any sleep in them.

Amongst pernicious insects no inconsiderable place should be assigned to the garrapata, which is about the size of a lentil, and in form resembles a land tortoise, except that it is more spherical, wearing on its back a mail like that animal. It is of a dark tawny colour, partly variegated, has a flat body, eight little feet, and a prominent head or proboscis, which it inserts into the skin, fastening, at the same time, the hooks of its feet into it, and whilst it sucks blood from every part of the body, creates an itching and inflammation, followed by swelling and matter, which often lasts four days or more, while the ulcer will hardly heal within a fortnight. When the insect has fixed its head deep into the flesh, it is very difficult to pull it out entire; and if it remain sticking in the flesh you will be in a bad condition; for the venom will not be got rid of till matter has flowed for a long time from that itching ulcer. The plains and woods are filled with this insect, so hostile both to man and beast. Where you see rotten leaves, or reeds, there you will find swarms of this little animal. When we travelled in the woods to discover the hordes of the savages, we disregarded tigers, serpents, and caruguàs, in comparison with these noxious insects: it was our constant complaint that we had not eyes enough to avoid them, nor hands sufficient to drive them away. The Spaniards employed in seeking the herb of Paraguay, when they daily return to their hut, lay down the bundles of boughs with which they are laden, and hasten to the next lake or river to bathe, where, having stripped themselves naked, they examine one another's bodies, and pluck out the garrapatas sticking in their flesh; unless this precaution were adopted, they would be killed in a few days with the superabundance of matter, and of ulcers. Goats, does, monkeys, tamanduas, dogs, and every wild animal that inhabits the plains or woods, all swarm with these insects. The lesser garrapatas are much more mischievous than the larger ones.

There are many species and incredible numbers both of creeping and flying ants in Paraguay. The worst and most stinging kind are the least in size, and of a red colour. They carry off sugar, honey, and every thing sweet, so that you have need of much ingenuity to defend provision of this kind from them. From eating sweet things they increase their bile, and acquire a subtle venom. As soon as they get upon the skin, they create a pustule, which lasts many days, and causes severe pain. To this very small species of ants, I subjoin the largest I had an opportunity of seeing, which are formidable on account of their undermining buildings. They make burrows with infinite labour, under churches and houses, digging deep sinuous meanders in the earth, and exerting their utmost strength to throw out the loosened sods. Having got wings they fly off in all directions, on the approach of heavy showers, with the same ill fortune as Icarus, but with this difference, that he perished in the sea, they on the ground, to which they fall when their wings are wetted by the rain. Moreover those holes in the earth, by which the ants used first to pass, admit the rain water, which inundates the caves of the ants, and undermines the building, causing the wooden beams that uphold the wall and roof, first to give way, and unless immediately supported, to fall along with the house. This is a common spectacle in Paraguay. The whole hill on which St. Joachim was built was covered with ant-hills, and full of subterranean cavities. Our house, and the one adjoining, suffered much from these insects. The chief altar was rendered useless for many days: for, it being rainy weather, the lurking ants flew in swarms from their caves, and not being able to support a long flight, fell upon the priest, the altar, and sacred utensils, defiling every thing. Ten outlets by which they broke from their caves being closed up, next day they opened twenty more. One evening there arose a violent storm, with horrible thunder and lightning. A heavy shower seemed to have converted our court-yard into a sloping lake, the wall itself withstanding the course of the waters. My companion betook himself to my apartment. Mean time an Indian, the churchwarden, arrives, announcing that the floor of the church was beginning to gape, and the wall to open and be inclined. I snatched up a lamp and ran to the place, but had hardly quitted the threshold of my door, when I perceived a gap in the earth; and before I was aware of any danger, sunk up to the shoulders in a pit, in the very place of the chief altar, but scrambled out of it by the help of the churchwarden, as quickly as I had got in, for under that altar the ants seemed to have made their metropolis: the cavern was many feet long and wide, so that it had the appearance of a wine-cellar. As often as earth was thrown in by the Indians to fill it, so often was it dug out by the ants. In this universal trepidation, all the Indians were called to prop the gaping wall of the church with rafters and planks. The greatness of the danger rendered it impossible to remain quiet, whatever arts were adopted. That same night I removed from my apartment, which was joined to the church with the same beams and rafters in such a manner, that if one fell, the other could not avoid being involved in the ruin. I have read, that in Guayana, rocks and mountains have been undermined, walls thrown down, and people turned out of their habitations by ants, which I can easily believe, having myself witnessed similar, or even more incredible events.

In Paraguay I was made thoroughly acquainted with the powers of ants. They are weak, and, compared with many other insects, diminutive, but numbers, labour, and unanimity render them formidable, and endow them with strength superior to their size. In the plains, especially those near the Paraguay, I have seen ant-hills, like stone pyramids, three or more ells high, with a broad base, and composed of a solid material as hard as stone: these are the store-houses and castles of the ants, from the summits of which they discern sudden inundations, and safely behold the floating carcasses of less industrious animals. Elsewhere I have seen an immense plain, so covered with low ant-hills that the horse could not move a step without stumbling. In the plains you may often observe a broad path, through which you would swear the legions of Xerxes might have passed. The Spaniards hollow out these pyramidal heaps, and use them for ovens, or reduce them to a powder, which, mixed with water, serves admirably to floor houses. Pavements of this kind resemble stone in appearance and hardness, and are said to prevent the breeding of fleas, and other insects. But hear what mischief ants commit within doors. They flock in a long and almost endless company to the sacks of wheat, and in a journey uninterrupted by day or night, (if there be a moon,) carry off, by degrees, some bushels. They will entirely strip fruit trees of their leaves, unless you twist a cow's tail round the trunk to hinder their ascent, and eat away the crops so completely that you would think they had been cut with a sickle. Moreover, ants of various kinds are extremely destructive both to vineyards and gardens, devouring vegetables and pulse to the very root. Set a young plant in the ground and the next day you will seek it in vain. They refrain from pepper, on account of its pungency. If you leave meat, either dressed or raw, in your apartment, you will soon find it blackened with swarms of ants. They devour all sorts of trash, the very carcasses of beetles, toads, and snakes. On returning to my apartment, I found a little bird which I kept in a cage devoured by ants. Nor do they abstain from the bodies of sleeping persons. In the dead of the night an army of ants will issue from the wall or pavement, get upon the bed, and unless you instantly make your escape, sting you all over. This happened so frequently in the Guarany colonies, that we were obliged to burn a candle at night: for lighted sheets of paper thrown upon the swarm, are the only means of driving them away. The Portugueze have an old saying, that the ants are queens of Brazil. Certainly we have found them the sovereigns of Paraguay. There may be said to be more trouble in conquering these insects, than all the savages put together; for every contrivance hitherto devised serves only to put them to flight, not banish them effectually. Should you hire workmen at a great expense to throw fire upon the caves of the ants, and destroy their eggs, fresh ones will be found next day in other parts of the garden. If swine's dung, chalk, urine, or wild marjoram be put into their cave, they will depart, but only to dig themselves fresh habitations in the neighbourhood. Sulphur is superior to other remedies, and the way in which it is to be used we learnt from the Portugueze. You seek out the principal lurking-place of the ants, lay a chafing dish of lighted coals in the largest opening by which they enter the earth, blow them into a flame, and add sulphur to make a smoke. You carefully stop up the other openings, through which you perceive the smoke issue, with mud, that the sulphureous smoke may not be permitted to escape. You then light all the sulphur you have at hand, by means of bellows, and the smoke filling the whole cave will suffocate all the ants that lurk there. This has been successfully practised by many persons in Paraguay. But if sulphur be wanting in these solitudes, or patience to use it, then grapes and the productions of the trees and plains must fail also. The ants will devastate every thing, and elude all the arts of the cultivator, unless destroyed by the smoke of sulphur.