THE CHIGOE. 139 
intimation of a Chigoe’s attack, and generally succeed in 
killing her before she has succeeded in burying herself. 
Moreover, the shoes and stockings of civilised man pro- 
tect his feet, and the gloves guard his hands, so that the 
insect does not find many opportunities of attacking 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 particular the least apt of all 
humanity. The Chigoe is in consequence 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 experi- 
enced 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 operator, 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 burrow under 
the skin. 
If the Chigoe be allowed to remain, the results are 
disastrous. Swellings make their appearance along the 
