28 PAEA. Chap. I. 



stores of provisions in houses at night, for it is even 

 more active by night than in the day-time. At 

 first I was inclined to discredit the stories of their 

 entering habitations and carrying off grain by grain the 

 farinha or mandioca meal, the bread of the poorer 

 classes of Brazil. At length, whilst residing at an 

 Indian village on the Tapajos, I had ample proof of the 

 fact. One night my servant woke me three or four 

 hours before sunrise by calling out that the rats were 

 robbing the farinha baskets. The article at that time 

 was scarce and dear. I got up, listened, and found the 

 noise was very unlike that made by rats. So I took 

 the light and went into the store-room, which was close 

 to my sleeping-place. I there found a broad column 

 of Saiiba ants, consisting of thousands of individuals, as 

 busy as possible, passing to and fro between the door 

 and my precious baskets. Most of those passing out- 

 wards were laden each with a grain of farinha, which 

 was, in some cases, larger and many times heavier than 

 the bodies of the carriers. Farinha consists of grains 

 of similar size and appearance to the tapioca of our 

 shops ; both are products of the same root, tapioca being 

 the pure starch, and farinha the starch mixed with woody 

 fibre, the latter ingredient giving it a yellowish colour. 

 It was amusing to see some of the dwarfs, the smallest 

 members of their family, staggering along, completely 

 hidden under their load. The baskets, which were on 

 a high table, were entirely covered with ants, many 

 hundreds of whom were employed in snipping the dry 

 leaves which served as lining. This produced the 

 rustling sound which had at first disturbed us. My 



