184-9.] 



213 



of clay are ceaiented together by a lluid excreted from the mouth of the insect, 

 (not as Smeathnian says, by gums elaborated from the different kinds of wood on 

 which they teed). This, by exposure to the sun and atmosphere, becomes ex- 

 ceedingly hard and tenacious on the surface, added to which, the action of the 

 well known principle in mechanical philosophy involved in the arched form of the 

 structure, gives to it a vast degree of strength. This feature in the economy of 

 of the Termes fatalis — the strength of the domiciles — is a wise provision in na- 

 ture. It guards the hills against the heavy, wasting rains of the country, and 

 enables them to resist the shock of decayed fallir/g trees, which so often occur on 

 recently cleared grounds. When it is known that it is the practice of the natives 

 of Africa not to plant the same piece of ground two years in succession, but let it 

 lie fallow four or five years, and clear up a new spot every year, and as many 

 trees are girdled and left to decay and fall, the wisdom of this feature will be un- 

 derstood. 



On clearing away the shrubbery and grass around the base of a hill, several 

 covered ways or clay tubes will be seen leading to neighboring stumps and 

 decayed logs. These tubes, sometimes 12 inches in diameter at base, gradually 

 diminish, ramifying, as they proceed outward. If their connection with the hill 

 be broken, as many holes will be seen, constituting mouths of passages which run 

 in a sloping direction to a depth of 12 or IS inches under the domicil. These 

 passages expand into basement rooms, bounded by clay pillars, supporting a series 

 of arch-work on which rest the " cellular work," " royal apartments," and super- 

 incumbent interior portions of the structure. 



The exterior of the hill consists of a clay wall varying in thickness on the dif- 

 ferent sides from 6 inches to Ij feet. Throughout this wall there are cavities, 

 cells and passages, anastamosing and running from the base to the apex, forming 

 a communication with the " dome." Within, at the base, elevated to a height of 

 one to tvofret above the >ivrfac(i of the ground, and central in respect to the cir- 

 cumference of the hill, is the apartment of the king and queen, styled by Smeath- 

 man "the royal chamber,"' surrounded by many other apartments or chambers, 

 containing eggs and young of various sizes and stages of growth, all supported by 

 the arch-work mentioned. 



It will be observed, that Mr. Smeathman states that the ''royal apartments " 

 are on a level with the surface of the ground ; but, iti every case, I have found 

 them elevated from one to two feet, depending on the height of the structure. 

 Indeed, at certain seasons, this elevation becomes a matter of necessity in many 

 localities. Were it otherwise, the royal pair would be in danger of inundation 

 during the long and violent rains of that country. 



Immediately above the royal apartments, extending across and up the sides of 

 the hill, to about two-thirds their height, are the nurseries " of Smeathman, a 

 yellow, dry, comb-like, granulated substance, enclosed in moist red clay, so moist 

 that it can be made by the hands into balls. In this substance are numerous 

 narrow serpentine cavities, or cells, containing eggs and young in different stages. 

 Scattered on the surface are perceived, in a recent state, many minute white 

 globular fungi. Immediately above, and interior to the nurseries, lie the " maiia- 

 zines" of Smeathman, rising to the height of about a foot. These are a cellular 

 arrangement of soft clay, filled with a dark-brown granulated substance, supposed 



