PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 311 



run against. If the attack proceeds, the bustle and agitation increase to 

 a tenfold degree, and their fury is raised to its highest pitch. Woe to him 

 whose hands or legs they can come at ! for they will make their fanged 

 jaws meet at the very first stroke, drawing as much blood as will counter- 

 poise their whole body, and never quitting their hold, even though they 

 are pulled limb from limb. The naked legs of the Negroes expose them 

 frequently to this injury ; and the stockings of the European are not suf- 

 ficient to defend him. 



On the other hand, if, after the first attack, you get a little out of the 

 way, giving them no further interruption, supposing the assailant of their 

 citadel is gone beyond their reach, in less than half an hour they will 

 retire into the nest; and before they have all entered, you will see the 

 labourers in motion, hastening in various directions towards the breach, 

 every one carrying in his mouth a mass of mortar half as big as his body *, 

 ready tempered : this mortar is made of the finer parts of the gravel, 

 which they probably select in the subterranean pits or passages before 

 described, which, worked up to a proper consistence, hardens to the solid 

 substance, resembling stone, of which their nests are constructed. As fast 

 as they come up, each sticks its burden upon the breach ; and this is done 

 with so much regularity and despatch, that although thousands, nay, 

 millions, are employed, they never appear to embarrass or interrupt one 

 another. By the united labours of such an infinite host of creatures the 

 wall soon rises, and the breach is repaired. 



While the labourers are thus employed, almost all the soldiers have 

 retired quite out of sight, except here and there one, who saunters about 

 amongst them, but never assists in the work. One, in particular, places 

 himself close to the wall which they are building; and turning himself 

 leisurely on all sides, as if to survey the proceedings, appears to act the 

 part of an overseer of the works. Every now and then, at the interval of 

 a minute or two, by lifting up his head and striking with his forceps upon 

 the wall of the nest, he makes a particular noise, which is answered by a 

 loud hiss from all the labourers, and appears to be a signal for despatch ; 

 for, every time it is heard, they may be seen to redouble their pace, and 

 apply to their work with increased diligence. Renew the attack, and 

 this amusing scene will be repeated : in rush the labourers, all disappear- 

 ing in a few seconds, and out march the military as numerous and vin- 

 dictive as before. When all is once more quiet, the busy labourers re- 

 appear, and resume their work, and the soldiers vanish. Repeat the 

 experiment a hundred times, and the same will always be the result; 

 you will never find, be the peril or emergency ever so great, that one order 

 attempts to fight, or the other to work. 



You have seen how solicitous the Termites are to move and work 

 under cover and concealed from observation ; this, however, is not always 

 the case; there is a species larger than T. bellicosus, whose proceedings 

 I have been principally describing, which Mr. Smeathman calls the march- 

 ing Termes (Termes viaruni). He was once passing through a thick forest, 

 when on a sudden a loud hiss, like that of serpents, struck him with alarm. 

 The next step produced a repetition of the sound, which he then re- 



1 The anonymous author before alluded to, who observed the Ceylon white ants' 

 says, that such was the size of the masses, which were tempered with a strong 

 gluten, that they adhered though laid on the upper part of the breach. 



X 4 



