INSECTS. 87 



into the basket to take it out, when fortunately the 

 native observed it in time to prevent the fatal conse- 

 quences. In the river are various kinds of water- 

 snakes, some of them very large ; they are also 

 common in the sea, and of beautiful colours ; many of 

 them are said to be poisonous. 



The woods of this island, and every other part of 

 it, teem with insect life. The butterflies are large, and 

 of gaudy colours, many of them of very curious forms ; 

 they appear to be irregular in their seasons, at some 

 periods being very plentiful, at others rarely seen. 

 Beetles are very scarce, and, excepting three or four 

 fine kinds, which are occasionally met with about 

 the lamps in the houses at night, are difficult to be 

 procured. Many species of garden bugs are found, 

 which, though beautiful to the eye, are of a very 

 unpleasant odour. 



The spiders, so disgusting in appearance in many 

 other countries, are here of quite a different nature, 

 and are the most beautiful of the insect tribe : they 

 have a skin of a shell-like texture, furnished with 

 curious processes, in some long, in others short, in 

 some few, in others numerous; but are found, of this 

 description, only in thick woods and shaded places : 

 their colours are of every hue, brilliant and metallic as 

 the feathers of the humming-bird, but are, unlike the 

 bright colours of the beetle, totally dependent on the 

 life of the insect which they beautify, so that it is 

 impossible to preserve them. 



The noisy cicadas sing their shrill notes from 



