42 PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 



will always be the result; — ^j'ou will never find, be the 

 peril or emergency ever so great, that one order attempts 

 to fight, or the other to work. 



You have seen how solicitous the Termites are to 

 move and work under cover and concealed from obser- 

 vation ; this, however, is not always the case ; — there is 

 a species larger than T. bellicosiis, whose proceedings I 

 have been principally describing, which Mr. Smeath- 

 man calls the marching Termes ( Termes Viarum). He 

 was once passing through a thick forest, when on a sud- 

 den a loud hiss, like that of serpents, struck him with 

 alarm. The next step produced a repetition of the 

 sound, which he then recognised to be that of white 

 ants ; yet he was surprised at seeing none of their hills 

 or covered ways. Following the noise, to his great 

 astonishment and delight he saw an army of these crea- 

 tures emerging from a hole in the ground; their number 

 was prodigious, and they marched with the utmost ce- 

 lerity. When they had proceeded about a yard they 

 divided into two columns, chiefly composed of labourers, 

 about fifteen abreast, following each other in close order, 

 and going straight forward. Here and there was seen a 

 soldier, carrying his vast head with apparent difficulty, 

 and looking like an ox in a flock of sheep, who marched 

 on in the same manner. At the distance of a foot or 

 two from the columns many other soldiers were to be 

 seen, standing still or pacing about as if upon the look- 

 out, lest some enemy should suddenly surprise their un- 

 warlike comrades ; — other soldiers, which was the most 

 extraordinary and amusing part of the scene, having 

 mounted some plants and placed themselves on the points 

 of their leaves, elevated from ten to fifteen inches from 



