Reptiles and insects abound both in the jungles and in the villages. In the latter they are, indeed, more numerous than is agreeable to strangers. Among them are lizards, frogs, snakes, centipedes, tarantulas, spiders of great size, hornets, beetles, ants, and myriad other inmates of the minor world. The snakes while usually harmless are not always so; one species,--the manapo,--found in the rice-fields, haunts the mud and the tall rice-blades; its bite is fatal if not immediately cauterized. Leeches are numerous in swamps and stagnant pools, and one tiny species, found in dense forests only, has the disagreeable habit of leaping from the trees upon passers-by, and at once beginning its blood-imbibing habit. Boa-constrictors are the giant members of the serpent family. They are rare, and when caught are caged. Large as they are, little dread is felt of them, they being far less dangerous than the manapo, the small tenant of the rice-fields. Bats are numerous, and some of them are of enormous size, measuring five feet from tip to tip of the wings, and with a body almost as large as a cat. One of these uncanny creatures, gone astray from its native haunts, flew into the dining-room of a Manila hotel once where I was dining. Its appearance was appalling: women shrieked and fainted, men rolled under the tables, and an earthquake could hardly have made more commotion. These huge bats are much hunted by Europeans, and their soft skins are eagerly purchased by those that are returning home. A Field for the Sportsman. The Philippines abound in game; deer and wild boars being plentiful; while the game-birds include pheasants, snipe, pigeons, woodcock, ducks, and other water-fowl. There are also hawks, cranes, herons, parrots, parroquets, and many species peculiar to the islands. Among the latter, we are told of a small black bird of the swallow-kind that makes its nest in the tails of wild horses,--a story more easily told than believed. Other fables concerning birds are extant, one describing the "solitary" bird, which dies when captured; one, the calayo, which has a large, transparent bill, and crows like a cock; one, the bocuit, a bird of seven colors and the sweetest of notes. There is a curious pigeon with a crimson spot on the breast, which looks like a blood-stain from a wound. Of aquatic creatures, tortoises are of considerable commercial importance. They march in from the sea in great numbers, and the natives turn them on their backs to prevent them from escaping, leaving them in this helpless state until they are ready to remove them. Quantities of small fish are caught in the rice-paddy fields when they are flooded; and the rich Indians are fond of a curious kind of beetle found in stagnant waters, which will bring in the markets, in the season, as high as fifty cents a dozen. They eat many things that would be repulsive to a foreigner.