324j jungle peace 



ward, so that the ants passing above them 

 walked partly on the abdomens and partly on 

 the hind legs of their fellows. In the second 

 column, the surface of the sand was smooth, and 

 here the burdened ants found great difficulty in 

 obtaining a foothold. In this instance the sup- 

 porting gang of ants faced upward, keeping 

 their place solely by their six sturdy legs. This 

 left head and jaws free, and in almost every 

 case they helped the passage of the booty by a 

 system of passing from jaw to jaw, like a line 

 of people handing buckets at a fire. The right- 

 ful carriers gave up their loads temporarily and 

 devoted their attention to their own precarious 

 footing. 



I learned as much from the failures of this 

 particular formation as from its successes. Once 

 a great segment of a wood-roach was too much 

 for the gallant line clinging to the sides of the 

 pit, and the whole load broke loose and rolled 

 to the bottom. Of the hand-rail squad only two 

 ants remained. Yet in four minutes another 

 line was formed of fresh ants, — ants who had 

 never been to the spot before, — and again the 

 traffic was uninterrupted. I saw one ant delib- 

 erately drop his burden, letting it bounce and 



