106 A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 
whose olfice is not quite so clear, unless it be to marshal 
the whole swarm and act as a kind of police. This view 
is confirmed by an anecdote related by an American resi- 
dent here, who told us that he once saw an ant, return- 
ing without his load to the house, stopped by one of these 
anomalous individuals, severely chastised and sent back to 
the tree apparently to do his appointed task. The Sauba 
ants are very injurious to the coffee shrubs, and difficult to 
exterminate.* 
In the afternoon, the hunters of the neighborhood began 
to come in and the party was considerably enlarged. This 
fazenda life, at least on an informal jovial occasion like this, 
has a fascinating touch of the Middle Ages in it. I am 
always reminded of this when we assemble for dinner 
in the large dimly lighted hall, where a long table, laden 
with game and with large haunches of meat, stands ready 
for the miscellaneous company, daily growing in numbers. 
At the upper end sit the family with their immediate guests ; 
below, with his family, is the " Administrador," whose office 
I suppose corresponds to that of overseer on a Southern 
plantation. In this instance he is a large picturesque- 
looking man, generally equipped in a kind of gray blouse 
strapped around the waist by a broad black belt, in which 
are powder-flask and knife, with a bugle slung over his 
shoulder, a slouched hat, and high top-boots. During din- 
ner a number of chance cavaliers drop in, entirely without 
ceremony, in hunter's costume, as they return from the 
chase. Then at night, or rather early in the morning, 
(for the Brazilian habit is " early to bed and early to rise,'* 
in order to avoid the heat,) what jollity and song, sounding 
* The most complete account of these curious animals is to be found in 
Bates's " Naturalist on the Amazons." 
