364 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



form a colony, they share the fate of certain Oriental potentates, 

 and never move out of their royal cell. When the queen is fair- 

 ly settled, she increases in size so rapidly, that, even if she were 

 set at liberty, she could not crawl an inch. While the head, tho- 

 rax, and legs retain their original dimensions, the abdomen swells 

 until it is more than two inches long and about three quarters of 

 an inch in width. Thus developed, she produces eggs by the 

 thousand, which are immediately carried off by the workers, who 

 have reserved certain apertures in the royal apartment through 

 which they can easily pass. When the eggs are hatched, the 

 young are carefully watched and tended until they are at last de- 

 veloped into males, females, or neuters, and themselves are able 

 to take part in the manual work. 



A full-sized nest of the African Termite is a wonderful struc- 

 ture. Although made merely of clay, the walls are nearly as hard 

 as stone, and quite as hard as the brick of which villa residences 

 are usually built. The form of the nest is essentially conical, a 

 large cone occupying the centre, and smaller cones being grouped 

 round it, like pinnacles round a Gothic spire. 



In Andersson's valuable work, "Lake Ngami," there are many 

 detached accounts of the African Termite. He states that he has 

 seen nests which were full twenty feet in height, and had a cir- 

 cumference of a hundred feet, and that when the insects were de- 

 veloped and obtained their wings, they issued forth in such hosts 

 that the air seemed as if it were filled with dense and white snow- 

 flakes. So strong is the instinct for rushing into the air, that they 

 can scarcely be retained within the nest, and will even pass 

 through fire in order to gain their end. 



The nests are always interesting objects, even from the exterior. 

 The walls are so hard that hunters are accustomed to mount upon 

 them for the purpose of looking out for game, and the wild buffalo 

 has a similar habit, the structure being strong enough even to 

 support the weight of so large an animal. The daily labors of 

 the architects can easily be traced, on account of the dampness of 

 the recent clay, so that an approximation can be formed as to the 

 length of time which is occupied in erecting one of the nests. The 

 traveler is always glad to see a large Termite nest, because he is 

 nearly sure to find the surface studded with mushrooms, which 

 are larger and better flavored than those which our fields pro- 

 duce. 



The natives have another motive for looking after the Termite 



