TROPICAL PESTS. 289 



SO little sunshine. No one who has not lived in 

 the tropics can have any idea what a source of con- 

 stant vexation the ants are. Bread, sugar, and 

 every thing eatable, they are sui^e to devoui', unless 

 it is kept in glass-stoppered bottles ; and this is the 

 greater annoyance, because, when a quantity of pro- 

 \asions is lost, as is constantly happening, it is so 

 difficult to procui'e another supply in eveiy part of 

 the archijjelago, except in the immediate vicinity of 

 the few chief cities. They are sure, in some way or 

 other, to find their way into every little nook or 

 corner ; and though a table be set with the greatest 

 care, in nine cases out of ten some will be seen iniu- 

 ning on the white cloth before dinner is over. The 

 floors of the houses occupied by Europeans are 

 usually made of large, square pieces of earthen-Avare, 

 and throusfh the cracks that chance to occur in the 

 cement between them ants are sure to appear. It is 

 this, probably, that has given rise to the saying, that 

 " the ants will eat through a brick in a single night." 

 In all pai-ts of the archipelago it is an established 

 custom either to whitewash the walls inside and out- 

 side, or else paint them white, except a narrow strip 

 along the floor, which is covered with a black paint 

 chiefly composed of tar, the only common substance 

 to which these pests show any aversion. All these 

 troubles are caused by the " black ants," but their 

 ravages do not compare with those caused by the 

 " white ants," which actually eat up solid wood. The 

 frames of many of the smaller buildings and out- 

 lionses in the East are not jnortised, but are fastened 

 together with pieces of coir rope, and, of course, when 



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