64 



SANTAREM. 



Chap. I. 



played, when, in making a hole in the earthy cemented 

 archway of their covered roads, a host of these little 

 fellows mounted the breach to cover the retreat of the 

 workers. The edges of the rupture bristled with 

 their armed heads as the courageous warriors ranged 

 themselves in compact line around them. They at- 



1 — 8. Soldiers of different species of White Ants. — 9. Ordinary shape of worker. — 



10. Winged class. 



tacked fiercely any intruding object, and as fast as 

 their front ranks were destroyed, others filled up their 

 places. When the jaws closed in the flesh, they suf- 

 fered themselves to be torn in pieces rather than loosen 

 their hold. It might be said that this instinct is 

 rather a cause of their ruin than a protection when 

 a colony is attacked by the well-known enemy of 

 Termites, the ant-bear ; but it is the soldiers only 



