Chap. XI. FOREST TERMES. 225 



to remain there alone, but for what reason they re- 

 quired to remain alone I was unable to discover ; 

 at that time there were no ants there. 



Then with the axe I gave a powerful blow, and 

 demolished another part of the structure, which dis- 

 turbed the ants from their dark chambers. I saw 

 there the three different classes of ants : the head 

 men, very large, with whitish body and black head 

 (these were but few in number) ; the workers, with 

 short and thick body and broad head, but not so 

 large as the chiefs ; and, thirdly, the soldiers, not 

 so large as the workers, more slender, and possessing 

 longer nippers. These three distinct classes were the 

 inhabitants of this curious structure. 



As I was looking at these ants, my attention was 

 suddenly called to watch their movements. The sol- 

 diers came and, ranging themselves round the broken 

 cells, took their stand and remained immovable. 

 Then the workers came ; each carried between its 

 pinchers a small particle of yellow clay, which some 

 of them collected from the broken pieces, and which 

 stood in my sight, while others came with their loads 

 from the cells ; there were sometimes two or three 

 busy together at the same time and in the same cells. 

 Each ant came and put down its particle of wet clay 

 with the utmost precision, and then with its head 

 moved it right and left, and by so doing succeeded 

 in making the bits stick together, and so finished the 

 wall. Each bit was put by the side of the one left 

 by the previous worker, who had gone to fetch more, 

 for here I saw the same ant go and fetch fresh pieces 

 of the same clay, which came from the structure I 



