174 



Cockroaches have no diffidence in their nature. 

 They are distinctly companionable, seeking rather 

 than shunning human society ; nestling at the back of 

 your boiler if the weather is the least chilly. The 

 only thing they are averse to is light ; on the principle 

 I take it that their deeds are evil. Show a light in the 

 kitchen, and at once there is a stampede for the cup- 

 boards, reminding you forcibly of the soldier's remark 

 to the dying Wolfe anent the French — " they run" 1 



Tiiey are sometimes of great magnitude, though 

 personally I have never met one that could stand on 

 his hind legs and drink out of a quart pot. I don't 

 disbelieve it. but I have no personal knowledge to go 

 on. A friend assures me that he has seen such. 



When we came here we were quite free of all 

 insect pests, but incautiously I once expressed a long- 

 ing for ' clocks.' My house heard me, and of course 

 did its best, and now, as I am frequently reminded by 

 the powers that be, the place fairly lifts with them. 

 Like Pharoah's frogs they are everj'^where, the}' even 

 enter into the king's bed chamber. When going to 

 bed late at night I have come across an elderly cock- 

 roach making his way upstairs to bed, and though I 

 have 'never seen an oyster walk upstairs' I have 

 frequently seen a clock do so. 



When I am working late in the dining room I 

 often hear a gentle rustle around my feet, very much 

 like that gentle surprised sound you sometimes hear 

 in Church when you tell people of their sins ! It is 

 only the cockroaches on the forage for unconsidered 

 trifles. Some people — ignorant creatures — who do 

 not keep birds, advise poison. 



To begin with, it is a wicked waste, and I should 

 like to see the insect powder that would disturb the 

 digestion of a healthy Yorkshire cockroach. I have 

 seen them a bit drowsy afier a hearty feed of vermin 



