TE PITO TE HENtTA, OB EASTER ISLAND. 459 



REPTILES AND [NSECTS. 



Small lizards are frequently seen among the rocks; the natives 

 claim that a Large variety is not uncommon, but we saw nothing of it. 

 No snakes exist, but there are centipedes whose bite is said to be ex- 

 tremely painful, though not attended with serious consequences. Sev- 

 eral varieties of butterflies were observed. Myriads of flies infest 

 every part of the island. Vliegen Island was the name given to Riroa, 

 in the Pamotu group, or Low Archipelago, by Schonten in 1(510, but 

 we were tormented here by hundreds where we saw tens on the Attol. 

 From the earliest dawn of day to the close of the short twilight, hordes 

 of flies annoyed us; it math? no difference whether we skirted the cliffs 

 to windward, climbed the breeze swept hills, or burrowed in the musty 

 caves and tombs, swarms of Hies met ns, prepared to dispute every foot 

 of the ground. Whatever may have been the parent stock of the Poly- 

 nesians, we came to the unanimous conclusion that we had discoverd 

 here the lineal descendants of the tiies that composed the Egyptian 

 plague, and can testify that they have not degenerated in the lapse of 

 time. 



Fleas occasioned us more annoyance than the flies, because this in- 

 dustrious little insect was untiring in its attentions by day and night. 

 They were found in numbers in all the camping places, and we seemed 

 to get a fresh supply every time a halt was called. 



There are fifteen or twenty mangy dogs of a mongrel breed on the 

 island whose hides were literally alive with jumping insects. They 

 had long ago given up all hope of relief, and made no ineffectual efforts 

 in that direction, but they plainly expressed in their mute way the 

 conviction that life in this flea-bitten state was not worth the living. 



It was said that there were no mosquitoes on the island until cisterns 

 were built by Messrs. Salmon and Brander to catch the rain-water. 

 We saw none elsewhere. 



Cockroaches about l' inches long, with antenna 1 to correspond, infest 

 every dwelling on the island, from the humble thatched hut to the com- 

 paratively comfortable residences of the foreigners. They partook of 

 our food at mealtimes with a freedom which showed that the presence of 

 the stranger caused do restraint ; while at night they made themselves 

 familiar with our garments in whatever time could be spared from 

 their gastronomic researches. 



A peculiar variety of snapping beetle made its appearance every 

 evening just before sundown, appearing suddenly aim vanishing with 

 daylight. 



NETS AND ROPES. 



Various forms of fishing nets were manufactured, from the hand net 

 to the long seine called " kupenga maito," which was supported by 

 poles at the extremities, weighted with stone sinkers on the submerged 

 edge and floated by billets of wood ou the surface (Plate Kill). Their 



