THE VIVIAGUA 275 



parts, up the trousers from below, and on my neck and breast 

 above. The bites of these furies were like sparks of fire, and 

 there was no retreat. ' I jumped about for a second or two, then 

 in desperation tore ofif all my clothing, and rubbed and picked 

 them off seriatim as quickly as possible. Ugh! they would 

 make the most lethargic mortal look alive ! Fortunately, no 

 one observed this rencontre, or word might have been taken back 

 to the village that I had become mad. It is really astonishing 

 how such small bodies can contain so large an amount of ill 

 nature. They not only bite, but twist themselves round after 

 the mandibles are inserted, to produce laceration and pain more 

 than would be effected by the single wound. Frequently, while 

 sitting on the ox, as he happened to tread near a band, they 

 would rush up his legs to the rider, and soon let him know that 

 he had disturbed their march. They possess no fear, attacking 

 with equal ferocity the largest as well as the smallest animals. 

 When any person has leaped over the band, numbers of them 

 leave the ranks and rush along the path, seemingly anxious for 

 a fight." 



But however formidable the weapons of the ants may be, yet 

 the injuries they inflict upon the property of man, pouring over 

 his plantations like a flood, and sweeping away the fruits of 

 his labours, are of a much more lasting and serious nature than 

 their painful bite or venomous sting. 



In the West Indies, the brown-black Viviagna, about one-third 

 of an inch long, and with a prickly thorax, is the greatest enemy 

 of the coffee plantations. In one day it will rob a full-grown 

 tree of all its leaves. It digs deep subterranean passages of 

 considerable dimensions and irregular forms, with a great 

 number of hand-high galleries branching out from the sides, 

 and does even more harm to the coffee-plants by its mining 

 operations, than by robbing them of their foliage. 



Attacked in their roots, they fall into what may be called a 

 consumptive state, bear no fruit, and die after a few months' 

 lingering. The complete extirpation of the nest, and keeping up 

 for some time a strong fire in the excavation, is the only means 

 to subdue the evil, which leads to incalculable losses, when, 

 through negligence, the Viviagua has once been allowed to 

 multiply its numbers. 



Other species are no less destructive to the sugar plantations, 



