The Humming Bird, 39 



mentation 160,678 separate pieces of staff work. Of these, 

 108,000 have been cast and more than 59,000 have been 

 put in place on the buildings. 



Italian Commissioner Alexander Del Nero writes from 

 Rome to the effect that there will be a fine exhibit of the 

 mosaics, tapestries, Columbian relics, and other treasures 

 of the Vatican which have never yet been on exhibition. 

 He further reports that the Ethnographic Museum of Rome 

 will probably loan many Columbian antiquities to the 

 Exposition. 



R. S. Moore, of Newburn, N. C, claims to have frag- 

 ments of the chain which restrained Columbus when he 

 was in prison, and he intends to exhibit them at the Fair. 

 J. C. Calhoun, of New York, says he has pieces of the house 

 in San Domingo in which Columbus was imprisoned, and 

 he has a similar desire. 



A CURIOUS RAT-CATCHER. 



In certain parts of Brazil, where the climate is intensely 

 hot, and where rats are a great nuisance, the common cat 

 does not thrive, but is replaced by a domestic rat-catcher, 

 whose presence causes a decidedly unpleasant sensation to 

 visitors from abroad, when they first come in contaet with 

 this creature. An Englishman who recently visited Brazil 

 upon a business tour, and who spent a short time at the 

 estate of a well-to-do Brazilian, writes this account of his 

 observation of the Brazilian rat-catcher. 



On the morning after my arrival, in descending the stair- 

 case from my room to go down to breakfast, I was 

 frightened almost half to death at seeing an enormous 

 snake curled up on the floor exactly at the foot of the stairs. 



The serpent was apparently asleep, but I was not at all 

 sure that he might not be preparing to strike at me, so I 

 ran back up the stairs with all the speed I could manage, 

 and then proceeded to shout for help. 



In two minutes the hall was full of servants, all gazing 

 at me in astonishment ; and my host rushed out of his 

 apartment. 



"What is the matter?" he asked in his best English. 



" Why," said I, " look here ! Look at that snake ! " 



I pointed to the coiled-up monster at the foot of the 

 staircase, which now had lifted up its head a little, and was 

 looking sleepily about it. 



The servants held their hands to their mouths, and my 

 host laughed outright. 



"Why," said he, "that's only Pedro; that's our giboia." 



