WHITE ANTS 175 



tea, and was sitting reading, when I felt a wave of air 

 against my cheek, and at the same time some dark 

 object shot swiftly by. It was a bat. Attracted by the 

 lights, it had entered the room, and was now circling 

 about it. When a bat thus enters a room it is farewell 

 to peace till it has departed. With short intervals 

 of rest on the walls and cornices, it sweeps round in- 

 cessantly, and there is something in its noiseless flight 

 that is most unpleasant ; besides, it occasionally ex- 

 tinguishes the candles ; and there is always the dread 

 that it may alight on one's person, or if a lady is 

 present, get entangled in her hair. But to drive out 

 a bat is not easy, it flies so rapidly, conceals itself so 

 readily, and then the rooms are so large and lofty. It 

 was more than half an hour before this bat was got 

 rid of. At length it was chased to one of the open 

 windows, passed through it, and departed. 



The bats that thus enter houses are mostly those 

 of the smaller varieties. Their bodies do not much 

 exceed in size that of a mouse. From these smallest 

 of bats there is every gradation of magnitude up to 

 those enormous creatures known among Europeans as 

 the "flying foxes." These great bats are, however, rarely 

 seen in these provinces except in the eastern districts, 

 those that are nearest to Bengal. I was once stationed 

 in that part of the country, and often beheld them, but 

 only when flying. Soon after sunset they used to 

 appear, and in great numbers, but each always flew 

 alone. They flew at immense altitudes, and always 

 in the same direction. High as they were above, they 

 still appeared as large as vultures. But their flight was 



