138 LIFE IN JAVA.
from side to side by means of a small pivot at one end. When used it is filled with a dark adhesive substance. This simple but ingenious lamp was made use of by a daring housebreaker in a most singular manner. Prior to sallying forth on his nightly Avork of depredation, he placed several fire-flies in the hollow of the box, which he carried in a small bamboo cylinder, with a kind of wooden stopper to prevent the insects from flying away, and with slits cut in the sides to admit air. From this he replenished his box or lamp, when he per- ceived the light was not so bright as he wished it to be, and on account of the adhesive substance to which their legs became glued, the flies which gave the light were unable to escape.
When he succeeded in entering a house, he hid himself in some out-of-the-way place, and waited until he felt sure all the inmates were fast asleep. Then pushing the lid of his box aside, to give himself light, he stealthily moved from room to room, ap-
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