276 COMPOUND ANT-HILL6. 
object, where each Negro Ant either be- 
gins immediately clearing away the earth, | 
or returns to bring away more of its com- 
rades. When the new habitation is suf-— 
ficiently advanced, they transport thither , 
all the Amazons. We now see, in the. 
road of communication between the old 
and new city, a file of Negro Ants, car-. 
rying the Legionaries, whose colour 
strikingly contrasts with that of their 
conductors. By these faithful guardians, ~ 
the males and females are afterwards 
brought away in the same manner, and. 
on their arriving at the entrance of the. 
lodge prepared for them, are placed suc- 
cessively before the door, when other . 
Negro labourers come forward and 
take them into the nest. ‘The larve and 
pupze are now taken away in their turn, 
and safely deposited in the new ha- 
bitation. | 
In the morning these trusty servants 
go in search of provisions for the whole 
colony; at one time they bring back 
little dead animals, at another time re- 
14 
