CH. VII.] ANTS. 143 



but had hardly quitted the threshold of my door, 

 when I perceived a gap in the earth ; and before I 

 was aware of any danger, sunk up to the shoulders 

 in a pit, in the very place of the chief altar, but 

 scrambled out of it, by the help of the church- 

 warden, as quickly as I had got in, for under that 

 altar the ants seemed to have made their metropolis : 

 the cavern was many feet long and wide, so that it 

 had the appearance of a wine-cellar. As often as 

 earth was thrown in by the Indians to fill it, so often 

 was it dug out by the ants. In this universal trepi- 

 dation, all the Indians were called to prop the gaping 

 wall of the church with rafters and planks. The 

 greatness of the danger rendered it impossible to 

 remain quiet, whatever arts were adopted. That 

 same night I removed from my apartment, which 

 was joined to the church with the same beams and 

 rafters, in such a manner, that if one fell, the 

 other could not avoid being involved in the ruin. I 

 have read that in Guiana, rocks and mountains 

 have been undermined, walls thrown down, and 

 people turned out of their habitations by ants, which 

 I can easily believe, having myself witnessed simi- 

 lar or even more incredible events. 



" In Paraguay I was made thoroughly acquainted 

 with the powers of ants. They are weak and, com- 

 pared with many other insects, diminutive, but num- 

 bers, labour, and unanimity render them formidable, 

 and endow them with strength superior to their 

 size. In the plains, especially those near the Pa- 

 raguay, I have seen ant-hills, like stone pyramids, 

 three or more ells high, with a broad base, and com- 

 posed of a solid material as hard as stone : these 

 are the storehouses and castles of the ants, from 

 the summits of which they discern sudden inunda- 

 tions, and safely behold the floating carcasses of less 

 industrious animals. Elsewhere I have seen an im- 

 mense plain, so coveied with low ant-hills, that the 

 horse could not move a step without stumbling. In 



