SOME QUEER AND TROUBLESOME NEIGHBORS. 49 



steady radiance ; quite unlike our lirefly, which gives 

 out only a feeble, intermittent Hght. This species is 

 the Pyrophorus noctilucus^ or the nocturnal light 

 bearer, and is peculiar, as the naturalists say, to the 

 tropics. In Cuba and Puerto Kico they are called 

 GUGujos^ and the ladies of those islands attach them to 

 their dresses, as bright ornaments, where they flash 

 and gleam like costhest gems. 



Well, in short, I caught and bottled a lot of those 

 fire beetles, and used them as substitutes for candles. 

 The imprisoned beetles emitted a pale, greenish light, 

 and by holding a bottle full near a printed page, I 

 was enabled to read quite readily. They even served 

 to illuminate my hut, for I caught a great many, 

 and putting them in white flasks, the mouths of 

 which were covered with muslin, I hung them 

 around the walls. I released them every morning, 

 and at night imprisoned a fresh supply, feeding 

 them on sweets, of which they partook with evident 

 pleasure. 



These insects were really very serviceable ; but 

 there were others, some of which had made their ap- 

 pearance in my hut, not so pleasant to contemplate. 

 Probably the worst pests of the tropics are the centi- 

 pede, tarantula, and scorpion. All of them like to 

 hide beneath the thatch of the hut, and all are hide- 

 ous in appearance. The stings of all three are poi- 

 sonous, sometimes fatally so, especially to young chil- 

 dren. Of the three, the centipede, I think, is the 

 most to be feared, as it moves almost with the rapid- 

 ity of light, leaving behind it — if it traverses the limb 



