tionable kind, who do not confine
themselves to the deck, but unceremoniously find their way into the
cabin, and prevent thin-skinned travellers from sleeping. I know too
little of natural history to decide whether these agile, bloodthirsty
parasites are of the same species as those which in England assist
unofficially the Sanitary Commissioners by punishing uncleanliness;
but I may say that their function in the system of created things is
essentially the same, and they fulfil it with a zeal and energy beyond
all praise. Possessing for my own part a happy immunity from their
indelicate attentions, and being perfectly innocent of entomological
curiosity, I might, had I been alone, have overlooked their existence,
but I was constantly reminded of their presence by less happily
constituted mortals, and the complaints of the sufferers received a
curious official confirmation. On arriving at the end of the journey
I asked permission to spend the night on board, and I noticed that the
captain acceded to my request with more readiness and warmth than I
expected. Next morning the fact was fully explained. When I began
to express my thanks for having been allowed to pass the night in a
comfortable cabin, my host interrupted me with a good-natured laugh, and
assured me that, on the contrary, he was under obligations to me. "You
see," he said, assuming an air of mock gravity, "I have always on board
a large body of light cavalry, and when I have all this part of the ship
to myself they make a combined attack on me; whereas, when some one is
sleeping close by, they divide their forces!"

On certain steamers on the Sea of Azof the privacy of the sleeping-cabin
is disturbed by still more objectionable intruders; I mean rats. During
one short voyage which I made on board the Kertch, these disagreeable
visitors became so importunate in the lower regions of the vessel that
the ladies obtained permission to sleep in the deck-saloon. After this
arrangement had been made, we unfortunate male passengers received
redoubled attention from our tormentors. Awakened early one morning
by the sensation of something running over me as I lay in my berth, I
conceived a method of retaliation. It seemed to me possible that, in the
event of another visit, I might, by seizing the proper moment, kick the
rat up to the ceiling with such force as to produce concussion of the
brain and instant death. Very soon I had an opportunity of putting my
plan into ex