ch. vi.] The Mason Wasp. 129 



former villages long after they themselves have vanished 

 for ever. 



Here, as elsewhere in warm climates, the mosquito is 

 of all animals the smallest and most troublesome to the 

 weary traveller. Large moths flutter about the ceilings, 

 especially on cold wet nights, and insect life of many 

 kinds is attracted to the lamplight. In every house there 

 is a colony of lively little drab-coloured lizards. They 

 run very nimbly up the sides of the room and on the 

 ceiling, keeping a sharp look-out the while for their 

 supper of moths and flies. The Malays have a proverb, 

 *' That even a lizard gives the fly time to pray." This 

 has been derived from the peculiar manner in which this 

 tiny Saurian " goes for " its quarry. On seeing a fly it 

 darts at it swiftly, but when within an inch or two off it 

 suddenly stops itself and pauses several seconds ere the 

 fatal spring is made and the fly seized. Now and then 

 the lizards lose their hold of the ceiling and come on the 

 table with a " flop," but this is a rare occurrence. One 

 of the most common and interesting of the domestic 

 insects is the " mason wasp," a large yellow species 

 which constructs a series of mud cells or a gallery of 

 earth against the woodwork of the verandah or roof. In 

 each cell, as completed, an egg is deposited, and ere 

 closing up the cavity it is stufl'ed full of green caterpillars, 

 which are then sealed up alive to serve as food for her 

 larva when hatched out. The big black carpenter bees 

 are also often seen examining the woodwork of the house 

 or verandah, and on finding a piece in suitable condition 

 they bore a clean hole into it in which to deposit their 

 eggs. These two insects are highly interesting a mason 

 and a carpenter and both do " worke moste excellently 

 well." Native houses and gardens are dotted pretty 

 freely about the island, and there are some interesting 



