280 COMPOUND ANT-HILLS. 
the Ash-coloured Ants; for I have seer 
an army, composed, at the most, of only 
one hundred and fifty Amazons, pene- 
trate one of their habitations, and after- 
wards safely convey the purloined pups 
to their own citadel. What motive ean 
possibly influence the Amazons in taking 
a certain route, or falling upon one ant- 
hill, in preference to another? To this I 
can give no direct reply. I once wit- 
nessed a Legionary Ant leave the nest 
before the hour of departure, apparently 
on a journey of discovery; I watched its 
movements for some time in the grass, 
and found it to visit every dry situation, 
and every place which seemed to an- 
nounce the existence of an ant-hill, but 
I lost sight of it before its return. I 
have also seen a few return alone from a 
distant spot, and enter precipitately the 
garrison, when the army put itself in mo- 
tion, and commenced a line of march 
precisely in that direction by which the 
couriers had arrived ; however, I can, by 
no means, affirm this was the reason of 
their departure. 
