170 EDGE OF THE JUNGLE 



stagger to his four and a half remaining legs, 

 hoist his assailant, together with a mass of the 

 midgets, high in air, and stagger for a few steps, 

 before falling beneath the onrush of new attack- 

 ers. It made me wish to help the great insect, 

 who, for aught I knew, was doomed because he 

 was different because he had dared to be an 

 individual. 



I left them struggling there, and half an hour 

 later, when I returned, the episode was just com- 

 ing to a climax. My Atta hero was exerting 

 his last strength, flinging off the pile that as- 

 saulted him, fighting all the easier because of the 

 loss of his heavy body. He lurched forward, 

 dragging the second giant, now dead, not to- 

 ward the deserted trail or the world of jungle 

 around him, but headlong into the lines of stupid 

 leaf -carriers, scattering green leaves and flower- 

 petals in all directions. Only when dozens of 

 ants threw themselves upon him, many of. them 

 biting each other in their wild confusion, did he 

 rear up for the last time, and, with the whole 

 mob, rolled down into the yawning mouth of the 

 Atta nesting-hole, disappearing from view, and 

 carrying with him all those hurrying up the steep 

 sides. It was a great battle. I was breathing 



