41S 
TERMES. 
and finished with such art and ingenuity, that we 
are at a loss to say, whether they are most to be 
admired on that account, or for their enormous 
magnitude and solidity. It is from the two lower 
orders of this, or a similar species, that Linngeus 
seems to have taken his description of the Termes 
Fatalis; and most of the accounts brought home 
from Africa or Asia of the white Ants are also 
taken from a species that are so much alike in ex- 
ternal habit and size, and build so much in their 
manner, that one may almost venture to pro- 
nounce them mere variations of the same species, 
“ My general account of the Termites is taken 
from observations made on the Termes hellicosiis, 
to which I was induced by the greater facility and 
certainty with which they could be made. 
“ The nests of this species are so numerous all 
over the island of Bananas, and the adjacent con- 
tinent of Africa, that it is scarce possible to stand 
upon any open place, such as a rice plantation, or 
other clear spot, where one of these buildings is 
not to be seen within fifty paces, and frequently 
two or three are to be seen almost close to eacli 
other. In some parts near Senegal, as mentioned 
by Mons, Adanson, their number, magnitude, 
and closeness of situation, make them appear like 
the villages of the natives. 
‘‘ These buildings are usually termed hills, by 
natives as well as strangers, from their outward 
appearance, which is that of little hills more or 
less conical, generally pretty much in the form of 
sugar loaves, and about ten or twelve feet in per- 
