714 ACCLIMATIZATION OF MUNGOOS IN JAMAICA. [Nov, 28, 



^10,918 ; and this industry is becoming largely extended yearly, as 

 people find they can grow cocoa now, because the rats no longer 

 destroy the cocoa as they used to do before the Mungoos was intro- 

 duced. Coffee-planters admit they lose scarcely any thing now from 

 rats, whilst at one time they suffered nearly as badly as the sugar- 

 planters. It is now possible to grow and reap maize, peas, and many 

 other vegetables, which but a few years ago were eaten wholesale by 

 rats, and could not be grown without loss. 



Besides the rats, snakes, lizards, crabs, toads, and the grubs of 

 many beetles and caterpillars have been destroyed to a large extent 

 by the Mungoos. Unfortunately, ground-nesting birds, the Quail 

 and others, have been diminished ; but the loss of poultry is not as 

 great from the Mungoos as it was from rats, snakes, &c. before the in- 

 troduction of the former. 



Since the introduction by me of the nine Mungooses in February 

 187l, several others have been obtained from India by other planters, 

 viz. Mr. M'Phail, Mr. Burgess, &c. ; but they were few in number, and 

 are known in some cases to have died without leaving any progeny. 

 Mr. Morris, in his letter of the 24th Feb. 1882 (published in the 

 ' Field ' of the fith of May of that year), appears to think that some 

 Mungooses had been introduced into Jamaica earlier than my impor- 

 tation ; but I certainly never heard of this, and I think Mr. Morris 

 has been misinformed. I do not think I could have failed to hear 

 of it, considering all I wrote on the subject in 1871. I am inclined 

 to think he has confounded subsequent importations with the alleged 

 previous introduction. I know that several Mungooses, purchased 

 in Leadenhall Market, were sent to Jamaica shortly after I got the 

 nine from India, and that they all perished. Mr. Morris says : — 

 "From these nine animals nearly, if not all the Mungooses in the 

 island at the present time have been obtained. Hence among the 

 natives the Mungoos is known as ' Massa Espeut's Ratta.' " 



Besides the many hundreds of Mungooses trapped on Spring 

 Garden and sold to planters in Jamaica, large numbers have been 

 sent by myself and others to Cuba, Porto Rico, Grenada, Barbadoes, 

 Santa Cruz, and elsewhere. In every case I have had good accounts 

 of the great benefit arising from their introduction. 



I question much if such enormous benefit has ever resulted from 

 the introduction and acclimatization of any one animal, as that 

 which has attended the Mungoos in Jamaica and the West Indies ; 

 and I marvel that Australia and New Zealand do not obtain this 

 useful animal in order to destroy the plague of Rabbits in those 

 countries. Much interesting information on the subject will be 

 found in Mr. Morris's letter already referred to. 



November 12, 1882. 



