UNCLE IN ENGLAND. 29i 



time by patting them with their antennae ; and 

 when they have milked one of their little cows, 

 they go to another. 



As to all the varieties of the tropical ants, 

 the inhabitants of South America know but 

 too much of them already ; but I must tell you 

 of a use to which, in another country, their nests 

 have been applied, and which you could scarcely 

 have guessed. In the southern part of Africa, 

 they raise solid nests of clay, in shape like a 

 baker's oven. The Caffres, when first permitted 

 to settle atGnadenth^l, one of the Moravina set- 

 tlements, converted these tumuli into ovens. 

 Having expelled the inhabitants by smoke, they 

 scooped them out hollow, leaving a crust of a 

 few inches in thickness ; and then used them for 

 baking their loaves. The clay of which these 

 nests are formed is so well prepared by those 

 industrious animals, that it is used for floors of 

 rooms by the Hottentots, and even by the Dutch 

 farmers. 



END OF THE SECOND VOLUME. 



