KARROO BEASTS, BIRDS AND REPTILES. 259 



invade the house, and make themselves at home in a 

 manner which is free and .easy rather than pleasant. 

 Legions of venomous centipedes, scorpions, and big, 

 bristly-legged spiders of the tarantula tribe lurk in 

 the old reed ceilings; from whence they drop playfully 

 down now and then, to the consternation of the un- 

 wary inmate sitting beneath, on whose head or book 

 they chance to land. Or, if they do not drop down 

 on jj^ou, they lie in wait about the room in well-chosen 

 points of vantage, where their sudden discovery is sure 

 to give you a horrid jump, even if you are lucky 

 enough to get off without a venomous bite or sting. 



One evening, as I was getting ready for bed — 

 oblivious for once of cautious habits acquired, years 

 before, in that land of "jiggers," the West Indies, 

 where you never venture to walk slippeiiess, even 

 across your bedroom — my bare foot suddenly en- 

 countered what seemed like the point of a red-hot 

 needle sticking straight up out of the floor; and, 

 looking down, I found that I had trodden on a scorpion. 

 Fortunately, it was not one of the large black ones, 

 which are the most venomous, but only a light-coloured 

 specimen, about two inches and a half in length. It 



was, however, quite bad enough ; and although T 



recklessly poured away over the foot our whole photo- 

 graphic supply of ammonia, and made me drink the 

 greater part of a bottle of strong Cape wine in the 

 hope of neutralizing the poison — though, alas ! only 

 producing other and sad results — it was many hours 

 before that red-hot needle showed any signs of cooling 



