Rensselaer Republican, Volume 17, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 August 1885 — Ruined by Rats. [ARTICLE]

Ruined by Rats.

Tho island of Tristan d’Acunha, in the South Pacific,., which is almost forgotten, was visited recently by ajßritish ship. The men reported that they required food. An absolute famine was threatened. The islanders reported that although there w ere only ninetynine souls on the island, about CO J bead of cattle and 500 of sheep grazed on the limited pasture lands. The most extraordinary story told by the people was that an American schooner, wrecked only a few years ago on the coast, had introduced a Colony of rats, and to their progeny the islanders attributed a continuous series of woes. The rats literally swept over the land. They destroyed the wheat fields. The crops of cereals, full of promise, perished before these famished battalions of rodents. Now the impoverished iniabitants of the island are dependent upon passing vessels for flour and bread.