THE INSECT WORLD AT CLOSE RANGE 21 



out like a palm in an oasis, giving its mite of shelter from the sun. 

 Lying about in no order, one sees great boulders, some rounded, others 

 with jagged dangerous edges and many bearing white wounds as 

 though a giant hammer had tried to cleave them. 



There is a scarcity of animal life here just as there is a scarcity of 

 vegetation, but one or two creatures revealed by the hunt are inter- 

 esting. 



One possesses a bony orange head that glistens like polished armor. 

 It is armed additionally with heavy curved rusks, working sidewise 

 with great strength, but for all this war-like apparatus its body 

 is fat and pudgy. Such a hypocrite could be attacked from behind 

 with safety. The creature rolls about aimlessly and one is forced 

 to wonder how it obtains its food. 



Another is a hairy eight eyed creature, possessed of as many agile 

 legs that carry it rapidly from place to place. It lives in damp caves 

 beneath boulders, darting out upon the unwary. In the seclusion 

 of its cave it sucks its victim's blood casting out the skeleton as a 

 warning to others. 



We pass on. The journey brings us through another jungle of 

 immense fruit trees bearing large objects resembling cocoanuts and 

 thence to a lake of great extent, backed up by a group of mountains. 

 Over the water one sees large flying creatures, with tremendous eyes 

 and slender, plated bodies. They hover over the expanse below, 

 occasionally swooping down upon creatures of lesser bulk, whom they 

 consume greedily. 



In front of us there are slimy flats sloping toward the lake. Puffs 

 of tainted air lead to the discovery of a mass of carrion near the 

 water's edge. Here is something of interest. 



Upon the manna a multitude of animals are gorging. Most of 

 them are similar in body, being long, fleshy and alert. They appear 

 to be fighting greedily for the repast upon which they are exuding 



