370 Mr. G. A. J. Rotliney's Jiotes 



On the river-drive in BarrackporePark between Scandal 

 Point and Titaghnr Bridge, and close to the latter, I 

 found, in the first week of the " rains " in 1883, a 

 splendid covered way in course of construction across the 

 road, which at this point is about 20 ft. wide. There 

 were a large number of ants at work piling up the little 

 red pieces of soorki (ballast; the soil anywhere about 

 Calcutta or Barrackpore seems to be largely composed of 

 brick and ballast) — and I noticed several of the giant 

 workers also very busy, not carrying or building up, but 

 slowly making their way along the line, and here and 

 there stopping and rearing themselves up against the 

 walls, pressing together, and smoothing out in a way 

 which their great size gave them special facility for doing. 

 They used themselves much in the same way as I have 

 seen my mali smooth over the earth with a board when 

 doing a little gardening with belatee (Europe) seeds, or 

 as some of the local rajmistris will also use a board in 

 building a wall. I visited this covered way on a good 

 many successive days, and always found the giants busy 

 in this work ; they would stand on their hind legs, 

 spread themselves out, and bind together with an even 

 kind of pressure the little blocks or grains of building 

 material. If you picked one up she immediately 

 attacked you in the same thorough, loyal, but perfectly 

 impotent, manner, and when you replaced her she 

 resumed her consolidating form of work. I had (until 

 finding this covered way) often wondered what special 

 use these big fellows served, but I now feel certain this 

 battening process is one. This covered way was cut to 

 pieces and destroyed by the carriages driving up and 

 down every evening, and as regularly repaired by the 

 ants in the early morning. This went on for several 

 weeks, when the ants seemed to pass on, and I lost sight 

 of them. The workers, in traversing their covered way, 

 carried about with them quite an assortment of odds 

 and ends, amongst which I have noticed the larvae of a 

 Ehyparochromid bug in considerable numbers, sundry 

 other larvfE unknown, a species of weevil, small shells 

 (Buliinus) in some numbers, bits of stick or twigs, seeds, 

 head of an ant, &c. 



