IN THE LAND OF THE BORA. 131 



amusing encounters in the insect world I think 

 I have ever seen. I was sitting on a rock, resting 

 after the ascent of a more than usually steep bit, 

 when my attention was attracted to the move- 

 ments of two of the common black scarabcei 

 so invariably to be found on all ground habitually 

 grazed over by sheep. The habits of these insects 

 are no doubt generally known, but perhaps not 

 universally, so I may explain that they lay their 

 eggs in sheep's dung, which they then carefully 

 protect from injury by enclosing it in a ball of 

 earth half as large as a billiard-ball. On this 

 occasion a beetle, no doubt an excellent mater- 

 familiaSy had so far completed her operations that 

 the earthen sphere was as large as a school- 

 boy's marble. At this stage of the proceedings 

 she had been attacked by a second, whom I had 

 no hesitation in putting down as an unprincipled 

 highway robber. Whether the bandit's object 

 was simply to steal ball, eggs, and all, or whether 

 she proposed to dissect it and utilize it for her 

 own eggs, I cannot say. At all events, the right- 

 ful owner, although the larger of the two, was 

 obviously afraid of her. When they first caught 

 my eye, she was retreating in the most masterly 

 manner, face to the foe, on her fore and middle 

 legs, rolling the precious ball behind her with her 

 two hind ones. This was too much of a handicap 

 on her speed, and the bandit soon overtook her 



