176 ANTS OF GUIANA. 



covered way to the ground. Through this the 

 whole community are perpetually passing and re- 

 passing, and if any part is destroyed, they immedi- 

 ately repair it. Others throw up hillocks eight or 

 ten feet high ; these, constructed of hard and yellow 

 clay, are of the form of a spire. Others, again, which 

 place their nests in trees, have no covered way, but 

 journey up and down the trunks. Travellers fre- 

 quently observe a procession of these industrious 

 creatures extending for a mile in length, each carry- 

 ing in its mouth a green leaf to the nest, most 

 probably to feed their young. The species furnish 

 an abundant supply of food to three kinds of ant- 

 bears, quiet and inoffensive creatures, that range 

 the plains and forests of the New "World. The 

 smallest is not larger than a rat, the next is of nearly 

 the size of our common fox, and the third, a stout 

 and powerful animal, measures about six feet from 

 the snout to the end of the tail. He is chiefly 

 found in the inmost recesses of the forest, within 

 reach of those low and swampy parts which border 

 the creeks, and are shaded with high trees. There 

 he wanders up and down in quest of ants, and of 

 these he readily obtains a sufficient quantity. He 

 cannot travel fast; the Indian is far superior to him 

 in speed, and yet, though without swiftness to aid 

 him in escaping if attacked, without teeth that 

 might assist him in self-defence, and without the 

 power of burrowing for concealment, he ranges 

 through the wilds in perfect safety, fearless of the 

 fatal pressure of the serpent's fold, or the teeth of 

 the famished jaguar. Should any brother of the 

 forest wantonly insult him, he hugs the offender 



