36 HAUNTS AND HOBBIES 



compensations. The storm cleared the air, and left 

 behind it a most agreeable coolness. This coolness was 

 increased by a second storm, which came on a day or 

 two after. It was quite an insignificant storm compared 

 to the storm I have described ; but then it was accom- 

 panied by a fall of rain, and though the amount of 

 rain which fell was but slight, yet it so lowered the 

 temperature that I was able to sit all the evening 

 without using the punkah : also the next morning I was 

 able to stay out much longer in the garden after 

 returning from my ride. I took advantage of the 

 circumstance to make a rather protracted visit to the 

 ants in the lower nest. 



I found them engaged in what I may describe as 

 a complete house-cleaning. They were bringing out of 

 the nest all the rubbish that apparently had for a very 

 long time been accumulating within it. The articles 

 brought out were of the most varied description. I 

 noticed pellets of earth, husks of seeds, stalks of grass, 

 small pieces of stick, and also what looked very like 

 the fragments of bodies of insects, besides much else 

 that I have forgotten. 



But what most excited my surprise was that among 

 the rubbish thus brought out was all that* "dal," or 

 yellow lentil, that only the other day the ants had 

 carried into the nest with so much labour and trouble. 

 Perhaps they had found it too hard to eat, or perhaps 

 they had found the taste disagreeable. But then why 

 had they not satisfied themselves on both these points 

 before conveying it in ? 



The pleasant effect of the storm was apparent in the 



