TERMITES, 207 



ternal dome, the apartments below are preserved from injury. 

 The area has also a flattish floor, which is situated above the 

 royal chamber. It is likewise water-proof, and so constructed, 

 that if water gets admittance, it runs off by subterraneous 

 passages, which are of an astonishing magnitude. " I meas- 

 ured one of them," says Mr. Smeathman, " which was per- 

 fectly cylindrical, and thirteen inches in diameter." These 

 subterraneous passages are thickly lined with the same kind 

 of clay of which the hill is composed/ ascend the internal part 

 of the external shell in a spiral form, and, winding round the 

 whole building up to the top, intersect and communicate with 

 each other at different heights. From every part of these 

 large galleries a number of pipes, or smaller galleries, lead- 

 ing to different parts of the building, proceed. There are, 

 likewise, a great many which lead downward, by sloping de- 

 scents, three and four feet perpendicular under ground, among 

 the gravel, from which the laboring termites select the finer 

 parts, which, after being worked up in their mouths to the 

 consistence of mortar, become that solid clay or stone of which 

 their hills, and every apartment of their buildings, except the 

 nurseries, are composed. Other galleries ascend and lead 

 out horizontally on every side, and are carried under ground, 

 but near the surface, to great distances. Suppose the whole 

 nests within a hundred yards of a house were completely de- 

 stroyed, the inhabitants of those at a greater distance will 

 carry on their subterraneous galleries, and invade the goods 

 and merchandise contained in it by sap and mine, unless 

 great attention and circumspection are employed by the pro- 

 prietor. 



When a breach is made in one of the hills, the first object 

 that attracts attention is the behavior of the soldiers, or 

 fighting insects. Immediately after the blow is given, a sol- 

 dier comes out, walks about the breach, and seems to examine 

 the nature of the enemy, or the cause of the attack. He then 

 goes into the hill, gives the alarm, and, in a short time, large 

 bodies rush out as fast as the breach will permit. It is not 

 easy to describe the fury these fighting insects discover. In 

 their eagerness to repel the enemy, they frequently tumble 

 down the sides of the hill, but recover themselves very quick- 

 ly, and bite every thing they encounter. This biting, joined 

 to the striking of their forceps upon the building, makes a 

 crackling or vibrating noise, whieh is somewhat shriller and 

 quicker than the ticking of a watch, and may be heard at the 

 distance of three or four feet. While the attack proceeds, 



