More Beetles 



task it is to carry the loosened soil outside 

 and to clear up as the pioneer goes deeper 

 and deeper. 



This labour of his is no slight affair, as 

 we may judge from the mound which he 

 throws up when plying his trade in the mead- 

 ows. It is a big heap of earthen plugs, 

 of cylinders mostly measuring an inch in 

 length. You need only examine the pieces 

 to see that the navvy handles blocks of Cy- 

 clopean dimensions. He does not carry off 

 the excavated soil fragment by fragment; 

 he ejects it in huge agglomerations. 



What should we think of a miner who 

 was obhged to hoist to the surface, to a 

 height of some hundreds of feet, an over- 

 poweringly heavy hod of coal up a narrow, 

 perpendicular shaft which could be climbed 

 only by the use of his knees and elbows? 

 The Minotaur father's ordinary task is the 

 equivalent of this feat of strength. He 

 performs it with great dexterity. How 

 does he manage to do it? Our bamboo tri- 

 pod will tell us. 



From time to time,, the denuded points of 



the tube afford me a glimpse of his doings. 



He is stationed at the digger's heels, raking 



the loosened soil towards him by the armful. 



io6 



