CH. XIV] WHITE ANTS 427 



plunge into the water, but it failed to catch anything. 

 Another time, suddenly, and seemingly in mere mischief, 

 one attacked a purple heron which was standing on a 

 mud bank. The eagle swooped down from a tree and 

 knocked over the heron ; and when the astonished heron 

 struggled to its feet and attempted to fly off, the eagle 

 made another swoop and this time knocked it into the 

 water. The heron then edged into the papyrus, and the 

 eagle paid it no further attention. 



In this camp we had to watch the white ants, which 

 strove to devour everything. They are nocturnal, and 

 work in the daytime only under the tuimcls of earth 

 which they build over the surface of the box, or what- 

 ever else it is, that they are devouring ; they eat out 

 everything, leaving this outside shell of earth. We also 

 saw a long column of the dreaded driver ants. These 

 are carnivorous. I have seen both red and black species ; 

 they kill every living thing in their path, and I have 

 known them at night drive all the men in a camp out 

 into the jungle to fight the mosquitoes unprotected 

 imtil daylight. On another occasion, where a steam- 

 boat was moored close to a bank, an ant column 

 entered the boat after nightfall, and kept complete 

 possession of it for forty-eight hours. Fires and 

 boiling water offer the only effectual means of re- 

 sistance. The bees are at times as formidable ; when 

 their nests are disturbed they will attack everyone in 

 sight, driving all the crew of a boat overboard or 

 scattering a safari, and not infrequently killing men and 

 beasts of burden that are unable to reach some place of 

 safety. 



The last afternoon, when the flotilla had called to 

 take us farther on our journey, we shot about a dozen 

 buck to give the porters and sailors a feast, which they 



