See BLATTA. In Captain Cook's last voyage, the ships, while at Huahine, were infested with incredible numbers of these creatures, whom it was found impossible by any means to destroy. Every kind of food, when exposed only for a few minutes, was covered with these noxious insects, and pierced to full of holes, that it resembled a honeycomb. They were particularly destructive to birds which had been stuffed for curiosities, and were so fond of ink, that they ate out the writing on labels. Books, however, were secured from their ravages by the closeness of the binding, which prevented them from getting in between the leaves. They were of two kinds, the Blatta Orientalis and Germanica.