THE CHIGOE. 527 



globular, and of great comparative size, and containing a vast 

 quantity of tiny eggs. Pain is now felt by the victim, who gen- 

 erally has recourse to the skillful old dames, who have a kind of 

 monopoly of extracting Chigoe " nests." With a needle they care- 

 fully work round the globular body of the buried insect, taking 

 great care not to break it, as, if a single egg remains in the wound, 

 all the trouble is wasted. By degrees they gently eject the intrud- 

 er, and exhibit the unbroken sac of eggs with great glee. To pre- 

 vent accidents, however, the wound is filled with a little Scotch 

 snuff, which certainly causes rather a sharp smarting sensation, 

 but effectually destroys any egg or young insect that may per- 

 chance have escaped notice. 



Europeans and natives of the better caste escape easily enough, 

 because they always take warning by the first intimation of a 

 Chigoe's attack, and generally succeed in killing her before she 

 has succeeded in burying herself. Moreover, the shoes and stock- 

 ings of civilized man protect his feet, and the gloves guard his 

 hands, so that the insect does not find many opportunities of at- 

 tacking the white man. 



But the negroes, and especially the children, suffer terribly 

 from the Chigoe. Children never are very apt at sacrificing the 

 present to the future, and the negro child is perhaps in this par- 

 ticular the least apt of all humanity. The Chigoe is in conse- 

 quence seldom disturbed until it has made good its entrance, and 

 even then would not be mentioned by the child on account of the 

 pain which he knows is in store for him. But the experienced 

 eyes of the matrons are constantly directed to the feet of their 

 children, and if one of them is seen to hold his toes off the ground 

 as he walks, he is immediately captured and carried off to the op- 

 erator, uttering dismal yells of apprehension. 



He certainly has good reason for his fears. The Chigoe nest 

 is duly removed, and then, partly to prevent the hatching of any 

 egg that may have escaped during the operation, and partly to 

 punish the delinquent for his disobedience, the hollow is filled, 

 not with snuff (which is too valuable a substance to be wasted), 

 but with pounded capsicum. The discipline is certainly severe, 

 but it is necessary. After a child has once paid the penalty of 

 negligence, he seldom chooses to bring such a punishment on 

 himself a second time, and as soon as he feels the first movements 

 of a Chigoe, away he goes to have it removed before it can bur- 

 row under the skin. 



