26 



STRANGE DWELLINGS. 



by no means intended merely to excavate burrows in soft or 

 sandy soil, though they are frequently employed for that pur- 

 pose ; but they are designed for labours far more arduous. By 

 means of these implements, the Aard Vark tears to pieces the 



AARD VARK. 



enormous ant-hills which stud the plains of Southern Africa — 

 edifices so strongly made as to resemble stone rather than mud, 

 and capable of bearing the weight of many men on their summits. 

 These marvellous dwellings (of which we shall see something in 



