HKES AND WASPS Ol BARTICA HT5 



between the i>"la.ss atul coik of a bottle, tiiiiiielid b\ tlie baek 

 way into wa.s})s' Jiest.s of sobd niasoiny. wreeked the homes 

 and carried off' the inmates in a thousand sepai'ate ])ieees! 

 They were a pest. It is the only word to deseril)e these vile 

 little ereatiires. If they would but rava<»e the ])antry and 

 leave my inseets alone, what a eomfort it would be! 



^ly only course was to eonstruet a tiny "incubator" 

 with wooden legs set in ])ans of oil. In this the young wasps 

 were kept in glass tubes with cotton st()])pers. It j)roved 

 to be the oidy dc\icc into which the minute ])illagei's could 

 not set foot. At length aftci- repeatedly having my woi-k 

 of days or weeks undone in a few moments; after manv 

 disappointments, I succeeded in rearing a few of my charges 

 successfully. I watched the mysteries wrapped about their 

 lives unfold, saw nature hurl them through her steeplechase 

 called life and forgot the ants in the revelation. 



]My gleanings, however meagre, follow. If one had as 

 a task, to count the grains of sand npon a glistening beach, 

 what impression would one make in a day^ A very shallow 

 one to be sure, but deeper than the one I have made in the 

 insect life of Guiana. Five and a half months have passed 

 since we sailed up the ]Mazaruni River to Bartica, I to my 

 wasps and bees, and like the Counter of the sand-grains, I 

 had a hopeless sensation. Xow it is late July. With the 

 entire heach still before me I have counted — one ! 



