thickly did the insects rain on to my face. The air was laden with the
sickening phosphorous smell they emit, but when I had once got free of
the broad fiery zone, stretching away on either hand for miles along the
moist valley, I stood still and gazed back for some time on a scene the
most wonderful and enchanting I have ever witnessed.

The fascinating and confusing effect which the appearance of fire at
night has on animals is a most interesting subject; and although it is
not probable that anything very fresh remains to be said about it, I am
tempted to add here the results of my own experience.

When travelling by night, I have frequently been struck with the
behaviour of my horse at the sight of natural fire, or appearance of
fire, always so different from that caused by the sight of fire
artificially created. The steady gleam from the open window or door of a
distant house, or even the unsteady wind-tossed flame of some lonely
camp-fire, has only served to rouse a fresh spirit in him and the desire
to reach it; whereas those infrequent displays of fire which nature
exhibits, such as lightning, or the ignis fatuus, or even a cloud of
fireflies, has always produced a disquieting effect. Experience has
evidently taught the domestic horse to distinguish a light kindled by
man from all others; and, knowing its character, he is just as well able
as his rider to go towards it without experiencing that confusion of
mind caused by a glare in the darkness, the origin and nature of which
is a mystery. The artificially-lighted fire is to the horse only the
possible goal of the journey, and is associated with the thought of rest
and food. Wild animals, as a rule, at any rate in thinly-settled
districts, do not know the meaning of any fire; it only excites
curiosity and fear in them; and they are most disturbed at the sight of
fires made by man, which are brighter and steadier than most natural