58 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 



or living thing that in any way injures or endangers the 

 safety of the nest ; this duty they perform with the most 

 reckless bravery, the labourers retiring within the nest dur- 

 ing the time of danger. The offices of the labourers are 

 manifold ; they take the eggs from the queen as fast as she 

 lays them, convey them to the nurseries, tend them until 

 hatched ; they feed the young, store provisions, build the 

 nest, repair damages, and perform every kind of labour re- 

 quisite for the good of the community. 



The nests of the white ants are so numerous all over the 

 island of Bananas, and the adjacent continent of Africa, 

 that it is scarcely possible to stand upon any open place, 

 such as a rice -plantation or other clear spot, where one or 

 more of these buildings is not to be seen within fifty paces. 

 In some parts near Senegal, as mentioned by Mons. Adan- 

 son, their number, magnitude, and closeness of situation, 

 make them appear like the villages of the natives. These 

 buildings are usually termed " hills, " from their outward 

 appearance, which is that of little hills, generally pretty 

 much in the form of sugar-loaves, and about ten or twelve 

 feet in height. These hills continue quite bare until they 

 are six or eight feet high ; but in time become, like the 

 rest of the earth, almost covered with grass and other plants, 

 and in the dry season, when the herbage is burnt up by the 

 rays of the sun, somewhat resemble very large hay-cocks. 

 The exterior of the building is one large shell in the man- 

 ner of a dome, large and strong enough to enclose and 

 shelter the interior from the vicissitudes of the weather, 

 and the inhabitants from the attacks of natural or acciden- 

 tal enemies. It is always, therefore, much stronger than 

 the interior building, which is the habitable part, divided 

 with a wonderful kind of regularity and contrivance into an 

 amazing number of apartments, for the residence of the 

 king and queen and the nursing of their numerous proge- 



