THE TERMITE, OR WHITE ANT. 209 



workers, who have reserved certain apertures in the royal apart- 

 ment through which they can easily pass. When the eggs are 

 hatched, the young are carefully watched and tended until they 

 are at last developed into males, females, or neuters, and them- 

 selves 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 essen- 

 tially conical, a large cone occupying the centre, and smaller 

 cones being grouped round it, Hke pinnacles round a Gothic 

 spire. 



In Anderson'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 

 circumference of a hundred feet, and that when the insects were 

 developed 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 ex- 

 terior. 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 labours 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 traveller 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 flavoured 

 than those which our fields produce. 



The natives have another motive for looking after the Termite 

 nests, because they eat the inmates, considering them to be a 

 peculiar luxury. The same author whom I. have already men- 

 tioned, describes a curious interview that he had with Palani, a 



p 



