280 SUMMER 



rolled down into a little scooped hollow in front of the 

 nest. 



The power of these navvies and their industry is admir- 

 able enough, but the wasp as navvy is a clumsy creature to 

 the wasp as mason. Through the earth, guarding the nest 

 in the bank from profane eyes, several holes were driven. 

 Within twenty-four hours each hole was always repaired so 

 thoroughly that no draught could possibly penetrate, some- 

 times so thoroughly that you could not tell where the hole 

 had been. Finally, a great part of the earth-wall was 

 removed, so that the side of the nest was disclosed ; but the 

 wasps did not shrink from this immense, this colossal work. 

 A separate gang, not very numerous, was told off; and it was 

 easy to see exactly how they proceeded. They were so busy 

 at the work that they did not appear to notice peering eyes, 

 even within a few inches. The method was never formal or 

 regular, as is a hive-bee's work. Each mason brought with 

 her a pellet, a little load of earth. As this was held in the 

 mouth against the bit to be repaired, some saliva or other 

 chemical substance was exuded, so that you could see the 

 hard little lump soften; sometimes it seemed to bubble with the 

 moist application. When it reached the right consistency, 

 became 'tacky' as manufacturers say, it was pressed on 

 partly by the feet, partly by the mouth. But the mouth 

 served the part of trowel. When the mud was lengthened 

 out into a ridge of mortar, often about an eighth of an inch 

 in length, it was always shaped by passing the mouth to and 

 fro along the top. Often a very neat and comely bevel edge 

 was left. When a considerable space had been covered by 

 this process, the effect was of a piece of frozen earth. There 

 were just the same sort of frost patterns, and the whole sur- 

 face had a hard, half-polished, cement-like appearance. In 

 an astonishingly short time the work was very completely 



