It will be one of your duties to study the little brute, and you may make a great discovery, for instance, it has been discovered that the mosquito dislikes certain colours.

Why?
It may be that he would show more distinctly on one colour than on another, and so fall an easy victim to an insect-eating bird.

But it may be that the leaves of some plant of a particular hue, or the juices of the plant, are distasteful to the insect.

Flies don't like the leaves of the blue-gum, and I guess mosquitoes have their likes and dislikes.

Find the plant they dislike, and we may defy them." They had no accommodation for such a luxury as a tent, but instead they purchased canvas hammocks, each with a waterproof covering, and a roll of green canvas with strong eyelet-holes, to serve the purpose of a tent, in addition to a canvas awning with bamboo rods, to cover the whole boat in case they were not able to land for any length of time.
It was a pleasant time for the boys, and when at last they were pitching down the Channel into the Bay of Biscay, having meanwhile passed through a miserable twenty-four hours, they inhaled the strong salt air and clapped each other on the back.
It was grand! They stood in the bows, one hand on the rail, the other on the brim of a hat, and tasted the salt with a smack of the lips.