312 FACT AGAINST FICTION. 



ants wlion climbing tlio trees or crawling along 

 boughs in search of food. A solitary ant, when 

 wending Ju's waij iij), if he comes to a spot where 

 two or three l)rahches diverge, will pause, and 

 seem to hold communion with himself This pause 

 is necessary to him ; for in its short duration ho 

 makes out which course had been pursued by some 

 other ant beating the beat before him, and he 

 takes care not to go over the same track, — just as 

 a man would do, if there was an earlier shooter 

 on the ground before him. I made this out b}^ 

 watching several ants in their ascent of trees, 

 and always discovered that one would not follow 

 another if he could help it. These ants reminded 

 me of tramps and gipsies, 'as well as of sports- 

 men; ''poor insects," indeed! '' what a little day" 

 it is that is assigned to all of us I Tramps, 

 when more rife than they are now, — except on 

 a tramp preserve of a parson near me, who, 

 though a nmgistrate, assigns them land to halt 

 and live on, in spite of law and the orders of 

 the police to move them on, — never would follow 

 the beiTirinu' or thievin<2r line of each other. So, 

 there being '^ honour among thieves," the preceding 

 tramp or family of tramps, when country roads 



