The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1898-12-24
Us A DREAD INSECT.
HOW rHR MATAcHlNo HuRlEs
ITSELF IN THE FLESH.
Must no Cas Out ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Who Have strong Nerves. Like the
Natives, Carry . sharp knife and OPP
crate Upon Themselves.

We were piowing against the cur
rent in the Mozambique channel on q
steamer. Every mile brought us near
er the equator and in spite of a fair
breeze the motley complement of pas
sengers <alrly gasped for breath, says
the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Capt. Ham, my travelling compan-
ion, and I stood leaning over a tenn
porary railing which had been erected
amidships on the port side to divide
the seccnd-class from the third-class
deckroon. The latter was occupied by
500 Mehcmetans travelling from Cape
Town to Mecca.
All day the McsIems were either pre-
pairing their daily repast of mea1ies.
attempting to get some sleep with
their robes drawn over their eyes or
listening to a priest who used the
fo'c'sle deck for a pulpit.
We had just completed the purchase
of two pair of sandals from a muezzin
on board, and declared our intention
of wearing them when we landed at
Beira, in Mozambique.
Don't dare to- asserted the skip
per, who had been In the East Afri-
can trade twenty years. For good
ness sake, have you never heard of
L
about it,
Eut the :,ptain never did. The
low, b!acf coast Of Mozambique was
sighted It that moment, and the best
CT ma iEation had to he used in en-
terirg the shallow bay into which emp
ties the Pungee river at Beira. SO
tho skipper hurried to the bridge and
eft us wondering what the matachino
could be.
We found out later on. and go did
others, some to their sorrow. In fact,
the matcch!ro got chumnay with the
rassenge from, the General im1nedi-
ately upon their landing.
Not even the huge scorpions and
deadly spiders which trfcst cast Afrj-
c., along the Mozambique coast arc
dreaded so much this insect. which
resembles in some ways, the AmcTi-
can tick.
The n,atachino. However, is a much
moro serious proposition. 1t lives in
the sand and is SO small: that it is
difficult to gee with the naked eye. In
a twinkling it fastens to ones foot,
bcrcs beneath the SKIN and hides it
SELF
There is an itching feeling, but with
the other sensations of this sort in a
hot climate one Is likely to overlook
the matachiro bite. In thirty-six
hours this insect HIS deposited eggs,
which hatch almost Immediately.
you then have several hundred mat
acl,inos in your ankle, or foot, and you
are in "a jolly lad way" as the Eng
lish resident will calmly tell you.
The streets of Beira are of sand, into
which your fooe sinks up to the an
k!c Though big steamship lines do
business there. not a horse or OK can
10 spa
In such roads. All traffic ia done
wish little trucks run on narrow
gauge tracks and pushed by native
Africans.
Every one, therefore, must wade
through this sand, fine ladies with
pretty hose and Partisan boots just as
we'll as a naked Zulu, whose feet are
often so callcus as to feaze the most
vicious matachtno.
Hundreds Of persons land at Beira
weekly from England, France, Ger
many, America, South America and
the east. 1t is today the widest and
strangest town in Africa. It is the
outlet and inlet to Mashonaland and
lower central Africa. The most re-
fined people knock elbows there with
the most lawiess, and all knuck1e un-
der to that dreadful insect. the mat
schino. for if not removed quickly 1t
means the loss of a foot. The choice
spot for them to settle is on the ankle,
where the boot flts tightly. and the
only way to remove the insect is to cut
out the surrounding flesh with a sharp
knife.
The matachino IL not to be trffied
with, and you soon learn to squat
down in the sand and look at your foot
when there is a suspicious biting SEN
sation. Those who have strong nerves
carry a sharp knife and cut out the
insect themselves. The Africans do
this, and it is not an uncommon sight
to see boy drop load of lumber, sit
down and perform a surgical opera
ton and continue his labor.
AS far as could learn the matachino
is Indigenous only to northern MOI
ambicue. for in Deiago hay they do
.ot seem to be troubled with iL.
Easy Enough.
Harry-"Say. old man, I'm in q hor-
r,b1e Az" F'red-s'What's uD?'' Harry