There was no romance about the mosquitos, however.

The air was alive with them.

When I was new to Cuba, I used to go to bed in the European fashion; and as the beds were all six inches too short, my feet used to find their way out in the night, and the mosquitos came down and sat upon them.

Experience taught us that it was better to lie down half-dressed, so that only our faces and hands were exposed to their attacks.
The Isle of Pines used to be the favourite resort of the pirates of the Spanish main; indeed there were no other inhabitants.

The creeks and rivers being lined with the densest vegetation, a few yards up the winding course of such a creek, they were lost in the forest, and a cruiser might pass within a few yards of their lurking-place, and see no traces of them.