On some days not a single white ant is to be seen abroad; and on others, and during certain hours, they appear out of doors in myriads, and work with extraordinary zeal and energy in carrying bits of dried grass down into their nests.  During these busy reaping-fits the lizards and birds have a good time of it, and enjoy a rich feast at the expense of thousands of hapless workmen; and when they swarm they are caught in countless numbers by the natives, and their roasted bodies are spoken of in an unctuous manner as resembling grains of soft rice fried in delicious fresh oil.

A strong marauding party of large black ants attacked a nest of white ones near the camp:  as the contest took place beneath the surface, we could not see the order of the battle; but it soon became apparent that the blacks had gained the day, and sacked the white town, for they returned in triumph, bearing off the eggs, and choice bits of the bodies of the vanquished.  A gift, analogous to that of language, has not been withheld from ants:  if part of their building is destroyed, an official is seen coming out to examine the damage; and, after a careful survey of the ruins, he chirrups a few clear and distinct notes, and a crowd of workers begin at once to repair the breach.  When the work is completed, another order is given, and the workmen retire, as will appear on removing the soft freshly-built portion.  We tried to sleep one rainy might in a native hut, but could not because of attacks by the fighting battalions of a very small species of formica, not more than one-sixteenth of an inch in length.  It soon became obvious that they were under regular discipline, and even attempting to carry out the skilful plans and stratagems of some eminent leader.  Our hands and necks were the first objects of attack.  Large bodies of these little pests were massed in silence round the point to be assaulted.  We could hear the sharp shrill word of command two or three times repeated, though until then we had not believed in the vocal power of an ant; the instant after we felt the storming hosts range over head and neck, biting the tender skin, clinging with a death-grip to the hair, and parting with their jaws rather than quit their hold.  On our lying down again in the hope of their having been driven off, no sooner was the light out, and all still, than the manoeuvre was repeated.  Clear and audible orders were issued, and the assault renewed.  It was as hard to sleep in that hut as in the trenches before Sebastopol.  The white ant, being a vegetable feeder, devours articles of vegetable origin only, and leather, which, by tanning, is imbued with a vegetable flavour.  “A man may be rich to-day and poor to-morrow, from the ravages of white ants,” said a Portuguese merchant.  “If he gets sick, and unable to look after his goods, his slaves neglect them, and they are soon destroyed by these insects.”  The reddish ant, in the west called drivers, crossed our path daily, in solid columns