A HONEY AXT. 



plain. During the day negroes are employed in 

 destroying the nests of crabs, and hence these 

 occurrences begin ordinarily during the night. 

 But the crevasse in question was so broad and 

 deep, that they were obliged to wait for the waters 

 to diminish before they could repair it. We could 

 not cross it on horseback, so we had recourse to a 

 boat." 



At another time, when at Matamoros, an Ameri- 

 can named Langstroth showed him, in a glass 

 vessel, some small vesicles, about the size and shape 

 of a raisin-grape, which he said were the produc- 

 tions of a honey ant ; he was told that, in the state 

 of Tomaulipos, in a valley little known, there were 

 found ants of enormous size, which make honey 

 sweeter even than that of the wild bee ; they con- 

 tinue half buried in the earth, while others of the 

 same family feed them during the time they make 

 the honey. This honey is formed in a vesicle ad- 

 hering to the ant ; and when the vesicle is full, the 

 insect dies. The honey the Abbe saw in the 

 vesicles shown him was of the colour and trans- 

 parence of a beautiful topaz of Brazil. The ant is 

 said to resemble the ordinary ant. He inquired 

 in vain for further details, but the existence of the 

 insect was so little known that he could never suc- 

 ceed in learning more about it. 



Before taking leave of this animated and enter- 



