No. 11. 



Endurance of African Horses. — Cabbages. 



351 



them completely as slaves; and, as far as we 

 yet know, the kidnappers are red, or pale- 

 coloured ants, and the slaves are of a jet 

 black. The time for capturing slaves ex- 

 tends over a period of about ten weeks, and 

 never commences until the male and female 

 are about emerging from the pupa state; and 

 thus the ruthless marauders never interfere 

 with the continuation of the species. This 

 instinct seems specially provided; for were 

 the slave-ants created for no other end than 

 to fill the station of slavery to which they 

 appear to be doomed, still, even that office 

 must fail, were the attacks to be made on 

 their nests before the winged myriads have 

 departed or are departing, charged with the 

 duty of continuing their kind. When the 

 red ants are about to sally forth on a ma- 

 rauding expedition, they send scouts to as- 

 certain the exact position in which a colony 

 of blacks may be found. These scouts hav- 

 ing discovered the object of their search, 

 return to the nest and report their success. 

 Shortly afterwards the army of red ants 

 marches forth, headed by a vanguard which 

 is perpetually changing; the individuals 

 which constitute it, when they have ad- 

 vanced a little before the main body, halting, 

 falling into the rear, and being replaced by 

 others. This vanguard consists of eight or 

 ten ants only. When they have arrived 

 near the black colony, they disperse, wan- 

 dering through the herbage and hunting 

 about as aware of the propinquity of the ob- 

 ject of their search, yet ignorant of its ex- 

 act position. At last they discover the set- 

 tlements; and the foremost of the invaders, 

 rushing impetuously to the attack, are met, 

 grappled with, and are frequently killed by 

 those on guard. The alarm is quickly com- 

 municated to the interior of the nest; their 

 antagonists sally forth by thousands; and the 

 red ants rushing to the rescue, a desperate 

 conflict ensues, which, however, always ter- 

 minates in the defeat of the blacks, who re- 

 tire to the innermost recesses of their hab- 

 itation. Now follows the scene of pillage. 

 The red ants, with their powerful mandibles, 

 tear open the sides of the ant-hills and rush 

 into the heart of the citadel. In a few min- 

 utes each invader emerges, carrying in its 

 mouth the pupa of a worker which it has 

 obtained in spite of the vigilance and valor 

 of its natural guardians. The red ants re- 

 turn in perfect order to their nest, bearing 

 with them their living burdens. On reach- 

 ing the nest the pupa appears to be treated 

 precisely as their own ; and the workers, 

 when they emerge, perform the various du- 

 ties of the community with the greatest en- 

 ergy and apparent good will. They repair 

 the nest, excavate passages, collect food, 



feed the larvae, take the pupae into the sun- 

 shine, and perform every office which the 

 welfare of the colony seems to require. 

 They conduct themselves entirely as if ful- 

 filling their original destination. — JSewman's 

 History of Insects. 



Endurance of African Horses. 



The Cape horse, for docility, endurance, 

 and sure footedness, will vie with that of 

 any other portion of the globe. The origi- 

 nal breed is said to have been Spanish ; and 

 those animals which are of a red roan color 

 are supposed to be the hardiest, and to pos- 

 sess most of this blood. It is a common 

 thing among the colonists to travel sixty 

 miles a day, for several successive days, 

 upon a horse newly taken from grass, that, 

 perhaps, has never been stabled in his life, 

 and, most frequently, has never been shod. 

 The hoofs of these horse?, probably from the 

 dryness of the climate, or from their having 

 been let run as colts in some stony moun- 

 tains or plains, acquire such a tough and 

 flinty nature, that shoeing, in the majority 

 of cases, becomes wholly unnecessary. Tra- 

 vellers often accomplish a long day's ride of 

 fifty or sixty miles, only once taking off the 

 saddle, that the horse may roll — which many 

 say does him as much good as a feed of corn 

 — and pick up what little pasture he can, in 

 the course of half an hour, by the road-side. 

 To prevent the creature absconding, a lea- 

 ther thong, or rim, which is kept wound 

 round his neck while under the saddle, is 

 loosened, and his head and knee so closely 

 secured together by means of it, that he ia 

 reduced to a hobble, and can be caught at 

 pleasure: this is colonially termed knee- 

 haltering. For courage, as shooting ponies, 

 they cannot be surpassed. They are of mid- 

 dle size, and have no great personal attrac- 

 tions. A canter is their common pace, which 

 they will-keep up for a great length of time. 

 Many of them are trained to amble, but a 

 good trotter is very rare. They have of late 

 years been much crossed with Arabian and 

 other imported stock, which has decidedly 

 increased their stature and improved their 

 looks, but whether it has increased or dimin- 

 ished their hardiness is a matter of doubt. 

 Numbers are now exported to the Calcutta 

 and Mauritius markets, for which this breed 

 is more adapted. — Life in the Wilderness. 



Cabbagges. — Every body knows how to 

 grow these. The Early York is the earliest 

 kind; the Sugar-loaf next; then the Large 

 Early York, which is a remarkably fine cab- 

 bage for fall use. The Green Curled Savoy 

 is a very sweet and delicate winter variety, 



