24? SOME WONDERS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



No attempt at a history of the enterprise would approach completeness without 

 a description of some of the marvelous exhibitions of insect life that came under 

 the observation of the hunters. Bob and Dick took careful notes and received 

 many suggestions from Mr. Godkin, the result being a record which formed for me 

 one of the most absorbing parts of the narrative of the enterprise. 



The termites, or white ants, build nests of different forms. Some are found 

 among the branches of trees, seventy-five feet above the ground ; others build a 

 round turret of clay, a couple of feet high, with a projecting roof, so that, as it stands 

 on the earth, it suggests in appearance an enormous mushroom. Within are count- 

 less cells, of various forms and sizes. 



There are other nests in Africa, more curious than these. They are made of 

 clay, broad, and from twelve to fifteen feet high. It is easy to mistake them for 

 villages, for some of the structures are larger than the huts of the natives them- 

 selves. 



In building these dwellings, the termites first erect several turrets of clay of the 

 shape of a sugar loaf, and a foot high. These are rapidly added to, increasing in 

 height, until they are joined at the top in one dome, and united into a complete 

 whole by a thick wall of clay. This soon puts on a green coating of grass, so that 

 the resemblance to a haycock is quite complete. When the structure has assumed 

 this shape, the insects remove the clay turrets that have served as supports, and 

 use them in building other dwellings. 



Only the lower part of the house is occupied by the inhabitants. The upper 

 portions, being very strong, serve as guards against the weather and enemies, 

 besides preserving the moisture required for the hatching of the ants in the lower 

 part. 



In the inhabited part are the apartments for the king and queen, the storehouses 

 for food, and the nurseries for the young. 



There must be hundreds of thousands of ants employed in erecting each of 

 these buildings, and it is an amazing fact that every one appears to understand 

 his duty so well that there is never the slightest interference between them as they 

 rush to and fro in their labors. 



If each of these ants were as large as a man, and possessed corresponding energy, 

 their houses would be several miles high. 



Of course the white ants have their enemies, else they would not take such care 

 in building their houses. The chief of these is the aard-vark, or earth-hog. He has 

 molar teeth, of a cylindrical form, pierced longitudinally with numberless minute 

 tubes. Their surface is quite flat, and fitted for the crushing of insects. Their 

 nails are intended to dig the ground, the head long, the limbs short and strong, and 

 the tongue extensible. The earth-hog lives wholly upon white ants, which it 

 devours wholesale. 



The animal makes its home in a burrow a short distance under ground. It keeps 

 out of sight during the day, but at dark comes forth and sets out for the aht-hills. 

 Digging a hole on either side of them, :t startles the community, whose members run 



