WITH ARMY ANTS 229 



into it and left his meat sticking out in the 

 rain. 



After the shower all came forth at full speed, 

 but for some minutes there was considerable con- 

 fusion. The sluice of water had evidently washed 

 away much of the scent which stood for guide- 

 posts, directing signs, and pointing hands along 

 the trail. Only after many false starts were the 

 old pathways discovered and again traversed. 

 In one place the ants climbed a huge log and 

 marched along the top for six or seven yards. 

 I timed them carefully and found that on this 

 straight-away track their average speed was two 

 and a half feet in ten seconds. So they covered 

 a mile in three hours and a half, and in all the 

 army ants I have ever watched this rate of speed 

 never slackens; in fact, it frequently greatly 

 increases. When hot on the scent of prey they 

 double their usual gait. 



There are as many ludicrous sights to be seen 

 in the ranks of army ants as there are among 

 the banner-decked processions of the leaf -cutters. 

 Along the tree-trunk track came three big white- 

 heads straddling an inch-worm — in this case an 

 inch-and-a-half-worm. They leaned forward 

 and downward, the heads of those behind over- 



