''SERMONS IN"— ANTS. 341 



and I resolved to go down to that country and see for 

 myself. I have already told you something of what I 

 saw, and I will now go on with my story. 



" I pitched my camp on the hills of Barton Creek, be- 

 yond Austin, the State capital, and sat down to watch 

 beside one of these nests which I have shown you. 

 Presently I saw an ant come up out of the gate, carry- 

 ing in its jaws something which it dragged across the 

 yard, and dumped upon a heap of similar objects, lying 

 in the grass at one side. I took up some of these, and 

 found them to be the husks of a sort of grass known 

 as ant-rice, or needle-grass. That was proof number 

 one. 



" Next, I noticed that the ant-workers were continu- 

 ally running along the roads, across the yard, and 

 disappearing through the gate with some kind of seed, 

 which they bore in their stout mandibles or jaws. I 

 tapped several of these porters on the back, in order to 

 make them drop their burdens, which I then examined, 

 and found to be whole seeds of the ant-rice. That was 

 proof number two — the ants were actually carrying the 

 grain into their nests. 



"Once more, I saw that workers Avere continually 

 leaving the gate and traveling along the roads outward 

 toward the grass. I stooped down upon hands and knees 

 to follow one of these. Off it vent at a lively pace, fur- 

 ther and further, until the roadway began to narrow 

 into a thin line, when it darted off to one side, into the 

 thick grass. It kept me on close watcli to keep the 

 busy insect in sight. It twisted back and forth, around 



