The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1895-04-26
THE PESTS OF INDIA.
nsec That Render the Lives of
Europeans Miserable.
Rodents That Browse Upon Ones Hair
and Reptiles That Are Numerous
and SociabIe-An Undesirable
Place to- Live.

Along with the intense heat says
returned East India traveller to q New
York Sun man, there go many varieties
of noNious insects. The mosquitoes
swarm the year round. Every bed Is
covered with Il tent of mosquito net
ting. and it il the business of your boy,
after having made the bed in the morn
ing. To scare out all lingering mo~gui-
toes and then draw the gauzc curtains
close and tuck them under the mat
trcsS. ON going To bed YOU make a lit
tie hole in the tent. get in quickly and
draw it tight again. House tiir> are
constant nuisance. and there are great
flying cocllruaches. two inches long.
which sometimes bite. and at certain
seasons leave their great wings lying
about the house. They eat one, patent
leather shoes. Flying ants. great black
creatures. come in SwarTns and also
lcav" their wings over everything. The
centipedr. an inch and Il half long. ANA
more vcnomOus than that of this cpun-
try. gets into the house and often
crawlS upon the sleeper. 50 long aS
one keeps still there is no danger. but
the creature. if one moves, Il likely To
dig his claws into the flesh and make
an unpleasant sore Scorpions q bound.
They come out of old woodwork and
You find them in books that have long
lain unused Their bite Is poisonous.
and sometimes fatal.
Along with the insects come the
serpentS. The cobra * the most dan
gcroUS. 1t seldom comes into the
houses for some reason, though my
small sister slept upon Il pile of ulat,
under which sleeping cobra. was aft
comes into the compound and often
bites the natives. Europeans are sell
dom bitten by the cobra or other
snakes, because the European goes
about i'm boots that give the serpent
notice Of his coming, and also perhaps
protect him from the bite. As ii matt %.
of fact serpcs+>- commonly met in India
do not voluntarily go after Luman
prey. but are probably more afraid of
man than man OF them. \ barcfpOtcd
native, treading noiSclcsSly. gives thy
serpent no notice of his approach. and
may uncousciouSly step upon him. and
then the creature bites in Sclf-dcfrn-c.
| knew a native gardener to Ice bitten
by cobra. lie filed himself with
whisky and walked to keep himself
awake. An EngliShman whom knew
was bitten 10y a cobra. and his friends
promptly applied the same remedies.
They walked him all night against his
drowsy protests and his earnest prayer
that he hc permitted to sleep. Ills life
was saved. but he never really recoy-
cred from the shock. though he lived
many years after. The bracelet snake
i a familiar and vcnomouS little wretch
that takes pleasure in coiling up in
ones boot during the night or in get
= 3
One soon learns To shake ones boots
before putting them on. The natives
have curious aversion to killing
snakes. and they have a superstition.
shared by some Europeans, that if ii
cobra be slain its mate will come to
avengc the act. of course. there i no
foundation for il. save perhaps that "a
widowed cobra comes in search of hyr
mate and incidentally meets the slayer
Rats abound IN India and get into
houses and swarm aboard a ship. One
great Indian rat, the bandicout. with "a
snout like a pig, visits ones bed n night
and chews the ends of ones hair. /
knew a red-hcaded fellow ON board
ship who used to grease his hair with
oil or bears grease. He WAS visited onr
night by a bandicoot. and came upon
deck next morning with the odd,.~t cvi-
dcnce of the bandicoot'S barhrrinr.
The muSlsrat swarmS in India. gels iCta
the houses aS all sorts of wild crra. Urr>
/ do. since the doors are merely un-'u-ed
| openings. His smell Il something tire
mcndous. and when he merely crosse
the cork of a soda water bottle lac
! seems to scent the contents.
The bite of an insect. even though
slight. or a small sore of amy kind that
ID
mate. may hang on for days or week.
| in the heat of India. and Slii-ht iii
ness greatly weCkens one. European.
luckily seldom take the uativc di-,->,.s
and, though cholera l. constantly pre-.
cnt in India. it is only in eases of p
culiarly widespread cpidcni = that J
reaches the European population. Thor
is no yellow fever there. buC ~IaIil"e-
ravageS the natives. 1t Il aU&z.r'
to- see how many natives are pa Is
| marked. The natives have small faiti
in European doctors. but they AWAY
take the European cholera mixture. g
course no European submits himself T.
native doctor. AbsceSS Of the live
is the great terror of the European
though the land breeze comes Iaacl
with all sorts of horrible possibilities
The change of climate as one roc
from the coast into the mountains /
Ike magic. On the journey up frm
| bombay to- Materan one starts wit
q pocIlctful of Indian cigars, trichiuopo
lis, cheap long rolls of tobacco with
straw through them that they ma
draw. This is because they are cS
tremeIy wet, but when one reache
Materan he finds his trichiniopoiiS a
dry as punk. The thin atmoSphcr
of the heights has sucked them dry &
all their moisture"