332 AFRICA SPEAKS 



the paths, while peeks into deep recesses that a stray 

 sun ray Ut up, would disclose many more, and also 

 flowers and shrubs that were str£aige and handsome. 



A journey into a forest such as this is a thing good 

 for the soul, for here in God's great cathedral of trees, 

 with bright shafts of sun flooding the glades and foot- 

 ways here and there, one is made to feel how httle his 

 individual existence counts in the great plan of the 

 universe. 



Just before we reached the clearing, a great commo- 

 tion took place at the head of the line. We had come 

 to a place in the trail where miUions of small red ants 

 had taken possession of the right of way, and when 

 the porters walked into them, they made a savage 

 attack on the bare legs of the men. A mad scramble 

 to get away from them gave me some hearty laughs, 

 then a wild ride as my bearers raced over the danger 

 zone. These ants are much feared by the natives, for 

 they will often come into the huts at night and drive 

 every Hving thing out. It is better to flee than to try 

 to combat their countless hordes. 



At dusk we came to the clearing in the forest, a cir- 

 cular space about an acre in extent with a huge ant hiU 

 some thirty feet high standing in the middle. Atop 

 this ant hiU was a large hut of the bungalow type, and 

 here I made headquarters, while the main camp was 

 settled in a group of smaller huts on the edge of the 

 clearing. 



From this perch I surveyed the scene below. All 

 around the fringe of the open space were food-bearing 

 trees — banana, pawpaw, mango — while many patches 

 of pineapples grew beneath. A few small fires were 

 bhnking and winking, now that darkness was faUing, 



