of an inch or two. At first it seemed that I must have 

 unknowingly moved some twig or grass stem that 

 flicked it ; but as I watched it there was another^ 

 vigorous jump. I took it up and examined it but there 

 was nothing unusual about it, it was just a common 

 light brown bean with no peculiarities or marks ; it 

 was a real puzzle, a most surprising and ridiculous one. 

 I found half a dozen more in the same place ; but it was 

 some days before we discovered the secret. Domiciled 

 in each of them was a very small but very energetic 

 worm, with a trap-door or stopper on his one end, 

 so artfully contrived that it was almost impossible 

 with the naked eye to locate the spot where the hole 

 was. The worm objected to too much heat and if 

 the beans were placed in the sun or near the fire the 

 weird astonishing jumping would commence. 



The beans were good for jumping for several months, 

 and once in Delagoa, one of our party put some on a 

 plate in the sun beside a fellow who had been doing him- 

 self too well for some time previously : he had become 

 a perfect nuisance to us and we could not get rid of him. 

 He had a mouth full of bread, and a mug of coffee on 

 the way to help it down, when the first bean jumped. 

 He gave a sort of peck, blinked several times to clear 

 his eyes, and then with his left hand pulled slightly at his 

 collar, as though to ease it. Then came another jump, 

 and his mouth opened slowly and his eyes got big. The 

 plate being hollow and glazed was not a fair field for the 

 jumpers they could not escape ; and in about half a 

 minute eight or ten beans were having a 

 rough and tumble. 



34 1 



