OBSEKVATIONIS ON SOME SOUTH AFRICAN TERMITES. 437 



■' I note that you say the iiest of the marchiug termites has not been 

 discovered. The following may, therefore, be of interest to you. As 

 far back as forty years ago, a couple of Bushmen arrived at my father's 

 place in Graaff Reinet and asked to be employed in taking out the 

 nests of the " rijsmier.' As these little insects were then troublesome 

 in a cottage my father set them to work near it. As a child I Avas 

 much interested and watched the process ; it consisted of putting a 

 wheat straw (or several in different passages in a small area) down the 

 passage from the surface, then excavating to near the end of the straw ; 

 then again inserting the straw as far as it would go ; and so on. As 

 the passages frequently have short curves it is easy to lose the run of 

 them. Thus these Bushmen dug several large holes to the depth of ti 

 to 8 ft. without success ; but ultimately they succeeded in reaching 

 the nest at about 8 ft. down. This consisted of a circular hole or 

 well from 18 to 24 in. in depth by about 10 to 12 in. in diameter 

 — beautifully smoothed and cemented. From this was taken about a 

 bucket to a bucket and a half full of insects together with the queen — 

 about 2^ in. in length and about If in. to 2 in. in circumference, in 

 appearance very similar to your illustrations (3) and of a dirty white 

 colour. 



" The entrances to the passages were to he found over an area of 

 about 50 yards square, and the actual nest was found about 15 

 yards away from the building. 



"The unsuccessful holes dug by the Bushmen were 8 to lU yards 

 from the successful one. You wull note that I aai not very definite in 

 my figures, but must bear in mind that I am speaking from impressions 

 on the mind of a child forty years back. 



" These termites were very ti'oiiblesome in my house at one time, so 

 I mixed some white arsenic with bran, filled the round of a magnum 

 Ijonum pen, and blew the mixture into the entrances to their passages. 

 This proved efi'ectual ; as they eat their dead the poisoning continued, 

 and they came out to die, so we removed them by plates full (as they 

 died in the old-fashioned wall cupboards)."' 



(As Hodoterines discai-d their dead, it is more probable 

 that those which died were thrown out by the insects from 

 the outlets in the cupboards. — C.F.) 



In a further letter Mr. Rubidge writes : 



'• The damage done in my house referred to was not to the wood work, 

 but rather to the plaster and paper. They tunnelled along under the 

 paj)er in all directions and ate the paper from the walls. Moreover they 

 destroyed books and other papers, and carved out extra patterns in the 

 window-curtains, even eating linen clothing." 



