TERMES. 
427 
great many which lead downward by sloping de- 
scents three and four feet perpendicular among 
the gravel, from whence the labouring Termites 
cull the finer parts, which, being worked up in 
their mouths to the consistence of mortar, becomes 
that solid clay or stone of which their hills and all 
their buildings, except their nurseries, are com- 
posed. 
“ Other galleries again ascend and lead out 
horizontally on every side, and are carried under 
ground near to the surface a vast distance: for if 
you destroy all the nests within one hundred yards 
of your house, the inhabitants of those which are 
left unmolested farther off will nevertheless carry 
on their subterraneous galleries, and invade the 
goods and merchandizes contained in it by sap 
and mine, and do great mischief, if you are not 
very circumspect. 
“ But to return to the cities from whence these 
extraordinary expeditions and operations origin- 
ate, it seems there is a degree of necessity for 
the galleries under the hills being thus large, be- 
ing the great thoroughfares for all the labourers 
and soldiers going forth or returning upon any 
business whatever, whether fetching clay, wood, 
water, or provisions; and they are certainly well 
calculated for the purposes to which they are ap- 
plied, by the spiral slope which is given them; 
for if they were perjiendicular the labourers would 
not be able to carry on their building with so 
much facility, as they ascend a perpendicular with 
