92 cook's VOYAGE TO OCT. 



of being permitted to thrive upon his new plant- 

 ation. 



While we lay in this harbour, we carried ashore 

 the bread, remaining in the bread-room, to clear it 

 of vermin. The number of cock-roaches that in- 

 fested the ship at this time is incredible. The 

 damage they did us was very considerable ; and every 

 method devised by us to destroy them proved ineffec- 

 tual. These animals, which, at first, were a nuisance, 

 like all other insects, had now become a real pest ; 

 and so destructive, that few things were free from 

 their ravages. If food of any kind was exposed only 

 for a few minutes, it was covered with them ; and 

 they soon pierced it full of holes resembling a honey- 

 comb. They were particularly destructive to birds, 

 which had been stuffed and preserved as curiosities ; 

 and, what was worse, were uncommonly fond of ink ; 

 so that the writing on the labels, fastened to differ- 

 ent articles, was quite eaten out ; and the only thing 

 that preserved books from them, was the closeness 

 of the binding, which prevented these devourers get- 

 tingbetween the leaves. According to Mr. Anderson's 

 observations, they were of two sorts, the blatta orien- 

 talis and germa?iica. The first of these had been 

 carried home in the ship from her former voyage, 

 where they withstood the severity of the hard winter 

 in 1776, though she was in dock all the time. The 

 others had only made their appearance since our leav- 

 ing New Zealand ; but had increased so fast, that 

 they now not only did all the mischief mentioned 

 above, but had even got amongst the rigging ; so that 

 when a sail was loosened, thousands of them fell upon 

 the decks. The orientates, though in infinite num- 

 bers, scarcely came out but in the night, when they 

 made every thing in the cabins seem as if in motion, 

 from the particular noise in crawling about. And, 

 besides their disagreeable appearance, they did great 

 mischief to our bread, which was so bespattered with 



