IXJUBIOUS TO MAN. 271 



day, and only sleeping off the effects of one meal to begin 

 another. 



Take, again, the great Palm Weevil (Calandra palma- 

 rum), the huge jaws of which are so destructive to the 

 palm-trees, and so noxious to the cultivator. 



The savage exults when he sees the traces of the 

 "gru-gru," as this larva is called, for it forms one of his 



PALM, OR GRU-GRU, WEEVIL. 



most dainty articles of food, and all the more valuable 

 because it requires no cooking. The gru-gru is simply 

 cut out of the tree, held by the head, and eaten alive, as 

 we eat oysters in this country. Many a savage, and 

 white man also, when leading a savage life, has been 

 indebted for his very existence to the Palm Weevil. To 

 the cultivator of the palm this weevil is one of the worst 

 of noxious insects. To the same man, when travelling 

 out of the reach of civilisation, it is a priceless boon. 



