MY HOUSE AND GARDEN 23 



the nest the previous morning. It traversed also very- 

 rough ground, and it was several inches wide, and yet 

 for its entire length and breadth it was already quite 

 distinctly marked. The dust was everywhere brushed 

 away, and the rough surface of the ground had been 

 trodden into some approach to smoothness. 



The track showed the diligence of the ants, but it 

 displayed also their stupidity. The new patch of 

 akawa plants was very much nearer the nest than the 

 old one among the pampas grass, but, instead of 

 making a direct track to the new patch, the ants con- 

 tinued to go all the way round by the old one, thus 

 adding at least a third to the length of every journey. 

 I noticed afterwards on various occasions many similar 

 instances of apparent stupidity on the part of the 

 ants, occasions where they underwent a vast amount 

 of labour, and even exposed themselves to some 

 danger which a very little sense would have enabled 

 them to avoid. Some of these instances in due course 

 I shall relate. 



After watching the ants for some time on the track 

 I went back to the nest and amused myself, as I often 

 did, in testing the facility of the ants in discovering 

 different kinds of food. I put down, some little way 

 from the nest, a handful of a yellow lentil termed 

 " dal," and in a different direction I placed also a small 

 heap of flour. The " dal " some of the ants found 

 accidentally, but took no notice of; the flour they 

 made for at once, and in a multitude. By what sense 

 they became aware of its presence was a puzzle, for 

 it was too far off for them to see, and to our perceptions 



