The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-10-08
HUNTING THE TARAyTULA.
An Exceedingly Dangerous Sport Of
the West Indies.

How the Native Boys Make a soanty
Living-Lizards Used to Lure the
Huge Spiders From Their Holes.
The Bite Of the Horrid Insect as Poi
sonous as a Rather.
From the Philadelphia Times.
Coming dead with the gale, the schooner
Norman ran ashore, and broke to pieces
near the Delaware breakwater. She was
just from Jamaica, with cargo of log
wood, and the sea was soon red of the
dye with which she was loaded. The
| trip up had been a frightful one, and for
five days the crew had stood at the
pumps day and night, until none of them
carried shred of clothing with them
when the men of the life-saving station
rescued and took them into quarters.
| Wild waves and furious winds had water
| logged the Norman, and she simply drift
ed at the mercy of the ocean, while her
crew were begging for life.
No one was lost, and the humane saw
ers of lives on the shore did the best they
could do to put onto the almost exhausted
sailors something to cover their naked
ness, and then food. How gratefully it
was all received.
A colored boy of 10 years of age or so, I
should say, was the center of the dilapi-
dated group. He had about enough
clothes on to wad a shotgun, as l saw
him, but seemed to be the cheeriest of all
the crew. He spoke English fluently
| and talked French to one of the sufferers
and Spanish to another with as much
ease as he conversed in English with me.
| His manner was self-possessed, far be-
yond one of his age, and it so attracted
attention that l asked him about his
| life.
1t is romantic story, and one end of it
turns upon subject that is of exceeding
interest to the people of this country,
who now and then see one of the insects
| to be talked about, and which are part
of the medical history of the world. The
colored boy shall tell the story of the
| tarantula, that venomous offspring of the
| sun which sometimes finds its way to this
country in punches of fruit brought up
! from those lands which lie close under
| the equator where 'all seasons are sum-
mer" The lad talked well in telling the
story of his career in the West Indies
Here is piece of his chat:
Catching the ground spider is fun, {"
said he. 'It Is a jumper, and when you
are trying to take it two eyes and quick
| leap are necessary to get away from it,
If 1t is q spider, it is not only a big one.
but very quick and quite cute. 1t will at
tack at any time, and in going about the
country you must keep an eye on tarantula
holes in the ground, or one may sting you
any moment, and then, as a rule, good-by.
I've hunted them many a day, for they
bring 80 cents apiece at the
stores in St. Thomas, and that is
good bit to a boy who has to
cast about mighty sharp to make
dime in a warm country where the
colored people, who are poor, are many
and the white people few. You see, mis-
ter, our chances in the 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 brighten
us from the hunt after them.
1--WE have no other dangerous insects or
| reptiles on that island except the taran-
tula, but there are lots of them. You must
be mighty careful in going about not to get
stung, for very few people live if they are
bit, The best and only thing to do If you
are caught is to use the poison of the
spider and sing or play music just as soon
as possible. The poison puts you to sleep
almost at once, and it is mighty hard to
getta person awake afterward
There are about 10000 of my race on
St. Thomas of the 1900 who are on tho
| island, and at least half the families keep
bottle of rum with tarantulas in it in
their houses. AS soon as they are struck
if they can get where it is quickly, they
may live. The sore part is rubbed with
it, and sometimes 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 then they are almost sure
to die"
"Why do they bring so cents apiece2" 1
asked.
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. Idon't
know how they fix them, 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 a tall
grass growing all over the island, and
when we go hunting we pick some of
it and take it along. When we get where
the tarantula holes are we Just strip the
head off piece of this grass, make loop
in the end and slip it over the head of one
of these little harmless house lizards.
VI NIllCn lliSlO dlC IllOuSdIluS. 1Ou Huu
them everywhere, even in the houses
They won't hurt any body, and we pay no
attention to them. When one is caught
just take him to the hole drop him in a
little way and the big spider comes up
quickly after him. Just pull him slowly
away from the hole and the tarantula
comes along. You have a house lizard in
one hand, shingle in the other, and
kind of turn around, you put your foot
over the hole and throw the shingie over
the tarantula, if you can. Each one is
worth so cents, dead or alive, If you don t
break his body You have to strike him
just right every time to get the so cents
Then you put him in bottle with a big
neck and go looking for another hole, and
there do just as you did before"
"Supposing that he strikes your"
well, you must be mighty quick when
you hit him, and look sharp all the time
after he follows the lizard out of the
hole, for he has his eye on you as well as
on the lizard. If he gets on to you then
there is trouble, and nothing can save
you except that poisoned rum I told you
about and constant playing on some kind
of musical instrument or singing some
well-known song. But everything has to
be done with great quickness. There is
no time to wait. I've seen them die almost
as soon as they were bitten. l have
plenty of stories about the spider that
come to me now and then when l am