The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1893-11-11
CATCHING TARANTu.As.
now Negro Boys In tho West Indies Iars
Them with House Lizards

Coming dead with The gale tb
schooner Norman ran ashore and brok
TO pieces near the Delaware break
water. She was just from Jamaic
with cargo of logwood, and the se;
was soon red of the dye with whicl
she was loaded. The trip up had beer
q frightful one, and for Ave davs tb
crew had stood at the pump7 day ant
| hlght until none of them carried ,
shred of clothing with them when th,
men of the life-savlng station rescue,
and took them into quarters. Wilc
waves and furious winds had water
| logged the Norman, and she simpl,
dritted at the mercy of the ocean. Will.
the crew were begging for life NJ
one was lost, and the humane savers q
lives on the shore did the best the,
could to put on TO the almost exhausted
sailors something to cover their naked
ness, and then food. How GRATEFUL,
1t was all received!
A colored boy of ten years of age q,
So should say, was the center of TN,
diiapidated group. He had about
enough clothes on TO wad shotgun
as saw him, but seemed TO be the
cheeriest of all the crew He spoke
English Huently, and talked French I,
one OF the sufferers and Spanish to an,
other with MS much ease as he con
versed in English with me. Ills man.
ner was self-possessed, far beyond one
OF his age, and II so attracted attention
that asked him about his life. II is n
romantic story, and one end of IL
turns upon a subject that is of cx-
ceeding interest to the people of
TINS country, who now and then see
one OF the insects TO be talked about,
ana which are part of the medical
history OF the world. The colored bov
shall tell the story of the tarantula
that vcnomous offspring of the sun
which sometimes finds its way TO this
country in lunches of fruit brought up
from those lands which lie close under
the equator where 'all seasons are
summer" The lad talked well in tell
ing the story of his career in the West
Indies. Here is piece of his chat:
catching the ground spider is fun"
said he. ut is u jumper, and when
you are trying to take it two eyes and
quick leap are necessary to get away
from it, If it is spider II is not only
big ono, but very quick and quite
cute 1t will attack at any time, and
in going about the country Won mus
keep an eve on the tarantua holes in
the ground, or ono may sting you anv
moment, and then, as rule. good. d.bv.
I've hunted them many day, for thcv
bring fifty cents apiece at the stores in
81 Thomas, and that is good bit to n
boy who has TO cast about miphtv
sharp to make a dime in warm coun-
w where the negroes, who are poor,
tropics are not like they are in this
country, where there is so much TO do,
and so many ways to pick up pennies
now and then at almost anything.
Fifty cents for a tarantula, dead or
alive, seemed heap OF money to us
young darkies down there, and getting
bit was not thought OF enough to
frighten us from the hunt after them.
"We have no other dangerous insects
or reptiles on that island except the
tarantula, but there arc lots of them.
You must be mighty careful in going
about not to get stung, for very few
people live II they are bit. The best
and only thing to do II you are caught
is to use the poison OF the spider and
sing or play music just as soon as pos
siblc. The poison puts you to sleep al
most at once, and 1t is mighty hard to
L.
There are about ten thousand
OF my race on st. Thomas of the
thirteen thousand who are on
the island, and at least half of the
families keep bottle of rum with
tarantulas in it in their houses. As
soon as they are struck II they can get
where IL is quickly they may live. The
sore part is rubbed with il, and some
times they take it inwardly, But you
see, mister, the bite is apt to put them
to sleep before they can get at the
poison in the rum bottle like what is
in their body, and they are almost sure
to die"
"Why do they bring fifty cents
apiece?" said /.
"They are sent to England to be
used for medicine, That is what a
merchant in st. Thomas told me. He
said that it was hard for him to get
enough, for lots of them were wanted
in England. ! don't know how they
fix them mp, but that is what the man
that used to hunt them for told me. "
How do you catch them?'
"Well, mister you see we have tai
grass growing all over the island, and
when we. go hunting we pick some Of il
and take It along When we get where
the tarantula holes are we just strir
the head off of piece of this grass,
make loop in the end and slip it ovei
the head Of one Of these harmless
house lizards, of which there are thou
sands. You find them everywhere, ever
in the houses. They won't hurt any
body, and we pay no attention to them
When one is caught just take him Il
the hole. drop him in little way ant
the big spider comes up quickly afte
him. Just pull him slowly away from
| the hole and the tarantula comes along
You have the house lizard in ono hant
| shingle in the other. You put you
foot over the hole and throw the shin
gle over the tarantula, IL you can. Eacl
one is worth fifty cents, dead or alive
II you don't break his body. You hav
to strike him just right every time t
get the fifty cents. Then you put hir
in bottle with big neck and go look
ing for another hole, and there do jus
as you did before"
"Supposing that he strikes you2"
"Well, you must be mighty quic
when you hit him, and look sharp al
the time after he follows the liar
out of the hole, for he has. his eye OF
you as we'll as on the lizard. W. he get
4 J. Ii