228 JUNGLE PEACE 



out and scouted round for the rest of the army. 

 I found that the pit was only an incident. In 

 all directions lines of ants poured past, carry- 

 ing booty of all sizes and descriptions. Here 

 and there the huge soldiers walked slowly along 

 the outskirts, directing stragglers, looking for 

 danger, snapping at any roach or strange ant 

 which rushed frantically by, and holding it until 

 it was carried off by nearby workers. 



I followed a column over logs and leaves to 

 where it ascended a cecropia tree. A harvest 

 of small arboreal insects was being gleaned high 

 overhead. As I watched, there came a heavy 

 downpour of rain, a typical shower of the 

 tropics, with a scattering of heavy drops out of 

 the full sunshine and then a sudden clouding 

 and a straight deluge for a few minutes. The 

 reaction of the ants was interesting. They did 

 not like the water, and it was comical to see 

 them tumble over one another to get under shel- 

 ter. Like the doorways of city shops in a 

 shower, every curled-up leaf was packed, and 

 from every crevice of bark projected sundry 

 abdomens and hind legs for which there was no 

 room inside. When the bearer of a large bag 

 of booty found a convenient corner, he backed 



