1836.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



333 



divisions: they sometimes go one hundred and 

 filly paces, to attack a negro habitation, and tlie va- 

 rious divisions succeed each other by means of cou- 

 riers, which are evidently sent off to (etch assis- 

 tance from tlie garrison. 



"On the 15th July, at 10 a. m.," says Huber, 

 "a small division ot sanguine ants was despatched 

 from the garrison, and arrived in quick march near 

 a nest of negro ants, situated twenty paces dis- 

 tant, around which they took their station. The 

 inhabitants perceiving the strangers, rushed forth, 

 and made several prisoners ; the sanguine ants ad- 

 vanced no (iirlher: they appeared to be vvaiting 

 for reintbrcements ; from lime to time, little com- 

 panies arrived Irotn the garrison to strengtlum the 

 brigade : thus reunited they advanced a little near- 

 er, and seemed more willing to run the risk of a 

 general engagement ; but in proportion as they ap- 

 proached the negro dwelling, the more solicitous 

 did they seem to despatch couriers to the garrison, 

 who, arriving in great haste, produced considera- 

 ble alarm, when another division was immediate- 

 ly despatched to join the army. The negroes took 

 up a position of about two feet square, in iront of 

 their nest, where nearly their whole force was as- 

 sembled, awaiting the enemy." In the interim, 

 tlie pupa* were removed to the side of the nest 

 facing the field of battle, so that they might be con- 

 veyed away at a moment's warning, affording a 

 trait of what Hnber calls prudence, and certainly 

 a marvellously singular one it is. When fighting 

 with the amazons, the impetuosity of the attack 

 leaves the negro-ant no time for thought, but in 

 their contests with the sanguine ant, they vary 

 their tactics so as to meet the new circumstances. 

 The latter instances being sufficiently reinforced, 

 make the attack, and band after band pillage and 

 carry away their booty, not in a few minutes, as is 

 done by the amazons, but during the whole day ; 

 and if the pillaged city should suit them belter 

 than tlieir own, they remove to it on the following 

 morning ; at least so it appears in an instance ob- 

 served by Huber. It is rare, according to that au- 

 thor, that they do not change at least once during 

 the year. They certainly inspire the negroes with 

 great terror, for these, once attacked by them, ge- 

 nerally forsake their nest forever. 



"To their own slaves they are much attached ; 

 the sanguine ants are often besieged by the fallow 

 ants : on these occasions they carry tlieir servants 

 to the lowest chambers, and these, as if aware of 

 the intention of their removal, immediately begin 

 Itarricading the different entrances, with every 

 species of material lying within their reach. 



"The sanguine ants evince extraordinary fore- 

 sight ill these engagements ; for while one party 

 is fighting, another is engaged in bearing away 

 the negroes, who immediately begin constructing 

 a new dwelling at a considerable distance from the 

 scene of combat-" 



Such is is the extraordinary recital contained in 

 that delightllil work of Huber's, every fact of 

 which has been confirmed by the subsequent ob- 

 servations of the accurate and learned Latreille. 

 It would seem that the negro and miner ants are 

 both occasionally enslaved and dwelt together in 

 the sanguine ant-hills. And Huber has brought 

 up legionaries and sanguine ants, which are both 

 slave-makers, with negroes, in one common dwell- 

 ing:. 



IFrom tlie London Mechanics' Magazine. 

 THE ICE TRADK BKTWEKN AMERICA AND 

 INDIA. 



The arrival of the Tuscany with a cargo of ice 

 from America forms an epoch in the history of Cal- 

 cutta worthy of commemoration, as a facetious 

 fiiend remarked, in a medal of frosted silv^er. In 

 the month of May last we received a present of 

 some ice from Dr. Wise, at Hugil, (whose efforts 

 have been so long directed to the extension of its 

 manuflicture by the native process,) as a proof that 

 the precious luxury might be preserved by careful 

 husbandry, until the season when its coolness was 

 the most grateful: little did we then contemplate 

 being able to return the compliment, with a solid 

 lump of the clearest crystal ice at the conclusion of 

 the rains! nor that we should be finally indebted 

 to American enterprise lor the realization of a 

 pleasure for which we have so long envied our 

 more fortunate countrymen intheupper provinces; 

 nay, even the beggars of Bokhara, who in a cli- 

 mate at times more sultry than ours, according to 

 Lieutenant Burnes, "purchase ice for their water, 

 even while entreatingthe bounty of the passenger." 

 ProfessorLeslie with his thousand glassexhausters, 

 and his beautiful steam-air pumps, tantalized us 

 with the hopes of a costly treat, and ruined poor 

 Taylor, the bold adopterof his theory; but science 

 must, in this new instance, as on many former oc- 

 casions, confess herself vanquished or forestalled 

 by the simple practical discovery, that a body of 

 ice may be easily conveyed from one side of the 

 globe to the other, crossing the line twice, with a 

 very moderate loss from liquefaction. 



We are indebted to Mr. J. J. Dixwell, the agent 

 of the proprietors, for the following interesting par- 

 ticulars relative to the Tuscany's novel cargo, and 

 the mode of shipping ice from America lor foreign 

 consumption. 



The supplying of ice to the West Indies and to 

 the southern States of the Union, New Orleans, 

 &c., has become within these few years an exten- 

 sive branch of trade under the successful exertions 

 of its originator, Frederick Gudar, Esq., of Bos- 

 ton, with whom S. Austen, Esq., and Mr. W. C. 

 Rogers, are associated in the present speculation. 



The ponds from which the Boston ice is cut, are 

 situated within ten miles of the city; it is also pro- 

 I cured from the Kennebec and Penobscot rivers, in 

 [the state of Maine where it is deposited in ice- 

 houses on the banks and shipped from thence to 

 I the capital. A peculiar machine is used to cut it 

 ■ from the ponds in blocks of two feet square, and 

 I from one foot to eighteen inches thick, varying ac- 

 I cording to the intensity ot the season. If the win- 

 ter does not prove severe enough to freeze the Ava- 

 ter to a convenient thickness, the square slabs are 

 laid again over the sheet ice, until consolidated 

 and so recut. The ice is stored in ware-houses 

 constructed for the purpose at Boston. 



For shipping it to the West Indies, a voyage 

 of ten or fifteen days, little precaution is used. 

 The whole hold of the vessel is filled with it, hav- 

 ing a lining of tan, about four inches thick, upon 

 the bottom and sides of the hold; and the top lifts 

 covered with a layer of hay. The hatches are 

 then closed, and are not allowed to be opened till 

 the ice is ready to be discharged. It is usually 

 measured for shipping, and each cord reckoned at 

 three tons; a cubic foot weighs 58^ lbs. 



For the voyage to India, a much longer one 



