102 HAUNTS AND HOBBIES 



of acacia, termed the "babool." By the side of one 

 of these trees, and rising in the air high above it, I 

 noticed a singular sort of haze. I approached nearer, 

 and the haze resolved itself into a cloud of small 

 winged insects. They were streaming forth from 

 several holes in the bark of the tree. As they came 

 forth the several streams of insects united and rose 

 together in the form of a column to the height of at 

 least thirty or forty feet. There they spread out on all 

 sides and slowly descended, much as does the water 

 over the rim of a fountain basin. 



Approaching still nearer, I noticed that the wings 

 of these insects were extremely narrow and enormously 

 long. Then I became aware that this cloud of insects 

 was a swarm of just-developed white ants, taking their 

 one brief and never-to-be-repeated flight. 



They seemed to be in the utmost eagerness to 

 commence it. I went up to the tree ; I found them 

 crowding out of the holes in the bark with a hurry 

 that often impeded their progress. The holes were 

 small, hardly more than sufficient to afford exit to a 

 single white ant ; nevertheless not unfrequently two of 

 the little creatures would endeavour to pass through 

 together. As a result they would become jammed, 

 and it was only after much wriggling and struggling 

 that they managed to get disengaged and fly off. 



The tree was partly dead, and where the ants were 

 issuing the bark was dry and withered, and in places 

 there were long cracks. I put my fingers into one of 

 these cracks and pulled ; a large piece of the bark came 

 off, disclosing the dead wood beneath. The surface of 



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