86 
THE SLUG. 
it was not the jays nor tits, but was the work of a 
Slug, or I may say, it was done by nine or ten. 
We had had a fall of rain, and rain is what they 
like, so they had come out and had made a fine 
meal on my poor peas ! I set to work at once to 
pick them off, and I then threw them into the lake. 
I shall put some soot all over the soil near my 
peas, for the Slug does not like soot : the dust gets 
on its damp back and will not come off, and it does 
not like this at all, but if the soot gets wet, it does 
not care for it so much. Salt, also, will keep the 
Slug away, but then it may kill the peas, so I shall 
not gain much by that. 
The Slug has a soft body, and no bone : its eye 
is at the end of its horri, and it can put its horn iu 
or out, just as may suit it best. It lays its eggs on 
some leaf, or in the soil. It does so mucli harm 
that I must try to get rid of it ; a sea gull will 
soon free my peas from it, if I can get a tame one ; 
but it is not very easy to do that, even when you 
live by the sea. 
