106 A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 



whose office 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." 



