70 EDGE OF THE JUNGLE 
made by a single ant here and there forcing its 
way against the stream. Unlike penguins and 
human beings, army ants have no rule of the 
road as to right and left, and there is no lessen- 
ing of pace or turning aside for a heavily laden 
drogher. Their blindness caused them to bump 
squarely into every individual, often sending 
load and carrier tumbling to the bottom of a 
vertical path. Another constant loss of energy 
was a large cockroach leg, or scorpion segment, 
carried by several ants. Their insistence on try- 
ing to carry everything beneath their bodies 
caused all sorts of comical mishaps. When such 
a large piece of booty appeared, it was too much 
of a temptation, and a dozen outgoing ants would 
rush up and seize hold for a moment, the con- 
sequent pulling in all directions reducing prog- 
ress at once to zero. o 
Until late afternoon few ants returned with- 
out carrying their bit. The exceptions were the 
cripples, which were numerous and very pitiful. 
From such fierce strenuousness, such virile ac- 
tivity, as unending as elemental processes, it 
seemed a very terrible drop to disability, to the 
utilizing of every atom of remaining strength to 
return to the temporary home nest—that instinct 
