EXPLANATORY INDEX. 359 



time, breaking into it witli a tunnel some eighty yards in 

 length, and letting in a torrent of water, which broke down 

 the machinery, and washed away all the supports, so that the 

 mine had to be dug afresh. 



Moreovei", the stronghold of the Coushies had to be dis- 

 covered and destroyed, a long and costly task, only to be 

 undertaken by men who make it their special business. 



COUSHIE Ai'T 



When a tunnel has been traced to the nest, a large dome is 

 built over it, filled with wood and sulphur, and closed except 

 a few openings for the admission of air. 



The wood is then lighted, bellows are inserted into the 

 holes, and negro slaves work the bellows day and night until 

 all the fuel is exhausted. Perhaps there may be a dozen 

 burrows radiating from the nest. These are discovered by 

 the smoke rising from their entrances, which are stopped up 

 and marked. 



When the fire has ceased, the holes for the bellows are 

 stopped, and the nest is left for several days, so that not one 

 Ant is left in it alive. Then the tunnels are laid open from 

 beginning to end, and filled up with clay rammed into them. 

 The tropical sun soon bakes the clay as hard as brick, and 

 not until then is the locality considered as safe. 



Mr. C. B. Brown met with rather a ludicrous incident in 

 which the Coushies were caught in their own trap : — 



" I had a small tin can, shaped like a sandwich box, with a 

 layer of cork in the bottom, in which I pinned any curious 

 insects met with, One night our camp was not far from the 



