Tropical Pests. 5 



and destroyed by them, so it will be seen that a rat's "menu" 

 is probably one of the most varied of any living creature. 



To enumerate some of these articles, I can mention 

 rifle stocks, the rubber heelplates often fitted to heavy 

 weapons, leather and web slings of rifles and bags, putties, 

 clothes, sponges, corks of waterbottles, lead articles, books 

 (for the gum or glue in the binding), vulcanite pipe stems 

 and other articles made of that substance, indiarubber 

 articles, leather body belts, hats (it is most cheering to find 

 a hole the size of a crown piece in a new double "Terai" 

 which cost a guinea), skins, horns, all food stuffs, etc. I 

 could easily give a page full of other articles if I cared to, 

 and it is enough to state that rats, and next to them white 

 ants, cause a great amount of loss to the settler here. 

 Traps are of little use, as they get too wary after a time, and 

 there is generally plenty of food kept in the native bins, and 

 offal in quantity for them to feed on. Cats reduce their 

 numbers and make them clear out, although they often get 

 very cute and keep aloft in the thatch where the felines cannot 

 reach them. Other pests, such as mosquitos, fleas, hornets, 

 tarantula spiders, scorpions, centipedes, snakes, biting ants, 

 and other tormentors, do not compare with rats and white 

 ants. 



With the latter one can take care not to build over a 

 nest, although some parts of this country are so bad that it 

 is difficult to keep clear of them. I have noticed that white 

 ants and fleas are most troublesome in the dry season, 

 whereas snakes, scorpions, centipedes, and some other 

 insects are worse in the rains. Even after taking great care 

 to build my huts in a place apparently clear of white ants, 

 they eventually found their way in, and came up through the 

 mud on the floor, eating skins and boxes, and on the walls 

 they got up the poles and would come out and eat things 

 hung on pegs or nails. 



It is a good plan to put one's cherished possessions in 

 watertight tin boxes which are impervious to rats or ants, 

 and every night before I turn in I have a look round and 

 lock things up. Unfortunately, one is inclined to leave this 



