xxvii TERMITES (WHITE ANTS) 331 



termites play a useful part in tropical forests, as they 

 keep it clear of dead trees and branches. As soon as 

 the sap ceases to flow through a tree the termites 

 attack and quickly reduce it to powder. All would be 

 well if these active insects confined their attention to 

 dead or dying trees in a forest, but they eat leather as 

 well as wood, and in countries where these destructive 

 pests abound, the traveller must look to his impedi- 

 menta, for they eat the wooden store boxes, leather 

 cases, saddles, boots and similar things in a very short 

 time. The only things which will resist the termite are 

 those made of metal or teak. 



There are many stories in vogue of houses and stores 

 tumbling down on account of termites destroying 

 the supporting beams. Many years ago a British 

 man-of-war on the Chinese Station had the fittings 

 of her barbettes mounted on thick wooden bases. 

 In due course the day of gun practice arrived, and 

 on attempting to work the guns it was found that 

 the barbettes had sunk twelve inches. Inspection of 

 the foundations of the barbettes revealed the fact that 

 they had been eaten by termites. The destruction 

 they cause in European communities in tropical 

 countries is as great as that produced by rats in 

 England. 



A. J. Hayes found termites especially numerous 

 around Gallabat, on the Blue Nile, and mentions 

 that these insects are not numerous at a distance 

 from water, and cannot work without moisture to 

 renew the fluid that exudes from their mandibles, and 

 which enters into the composition of the material of 

 which they build their dwellings. The ant hills from 

 nine to twelve feet in height were usually built close 

 to a soft-wooded tree ; the roots of this tree had been 

 attacked by the termites and converted into earth. 

 The tree is the victim of a gale of wind, and lying on 

 the ground it is soon converted into red compost by 

 these indefatigable workers. In the dry months they 



