ANT-KILLING. 443 



sent for from a considerable distance, and the extirpation of the 

 nest decreed. It may seem strange that there should be such a 

 profession, but the local circumstances make it needful. 



The process of extermination is a very curious one. In the 

 first place, the ant-killer has to find the nest itself — a task 

 which requires the greatest knowledge of the subject. Having 

 found the dome which has been already mentioned, he builds 

 round it a sort of large vaulted edifice, something like the snow 

 hut of an Esquimaux. This oven is then filled with charcoal, 

 sulphur, capsicum, and wood, both dry and green, through an 

 opening at the top of the dome. The oven is then finally closed, 

 with the exception of several small apertures which are made 

 around it. 



Fire is then introduced, and a number of negroes are set to 

 work, each with a large pair of bellows, the nozzles of which 

 are thrust into the apertures already mentioned. They never 

 cease from blowing night or clay, and on an average the opera- 

 tion is not complete until they have laboured for four days and 

 as many nights. Meanwhile, the ant-killer is on the watch for 

 smoke escaping from the ground, and wherever he sees this he 

 knows that he has come upon one of the galleries. The place 

 is at once marked and the aperture stopped with clay. In the 

 present instance the nest was found upwards of eighty yards 

 from the mine. 



After the four days' work the negroes cease their labour, the 

 oven is taken down, and the nest opened. Guided by the 

 marks which he has made, the ant-killer lays open the whole 

 of the tunnels, and, after taking care that not a living creature 

 remains in them, he fills them as well as the nest with clay, 

 which is well stamped down and left to harden in the sun. 

 Then, and not until then, is the place considered safe. 



It will now be seen how detrimental a neighbour the Umbrella 

 Ant may be, even though it does not attack man personally. 

 Here is a case where a mine was thrown out of work for many 

 days, the whole of the timbering had to be replaced at no small 

 expense, and the ant-killer paid very highly for his trouble. I 

 have heard of another instance where the Saiiba Ant drove its 

 tunnel through the bank of a reservoir and let out all the water. 



The sizes of the insects belonging to the same nest vary 

 greatly, some being nearly as large as our common wasp, 



