154 THE ADVENTURES OF 



edifice whicli you took for a sponge. The only duty of the 

 soldiers is fighting against enemies that attempt to disturb the 

 peace of the colony." 



" But I see thousands of holes ; does each termite have a separ 

 rate chamber ? " 



" Not exactly ; there is first a chamber for the queen, which is 

 the largest ; then comes the nursery, afterwards a large compart- 

 ment, in which the working ants place the eggs which the queen 

 lays night and day." 



" How I should like to see all this ! " 



Being convinced that practical illustration is better than the 

 clearest explanation, I again struck the nest. The workmen, 

 who were beginning to disappear, soon came out again to examine 

 the spot threatened, and, in a moment after, the surface ai the 

 nest appeared to be swarming. I then kept making a noise 

 at one point of the nest only, when the soldier ants soon rushed 

 out, easily recognisable by their enormous heads ; finally, I 

 removed a small portion of the outside of the construction, and 

 brought to light a multitude of white specks. These were the 

 eggs, which the workmen hurried to carry farther into the nest. 

 After having caused all this disturbance, I led Lucien away, for 

 the ground was covered with soldier ants, and I was too well 

 aware of the violence of their stings to willingly expose him to 

 them. 



" But I haven't seen the queen," cried my young companion. 



" She keeps quite in the centre of the building, immured in 

 a cell which she seldom or never leaves, for her bulk is equal to 

 that of twenty or thirty working ants. Sumichrast, who has 

 been a great observer of these insects, asserts that the queen lays 

 about eighty thousand eggs a day. As soOn as they are hatched, 

 the young termites are carried off into large compartments where 

 they are fed until they are old enough to take a part in the 

 labour. During the rainy season, a certain number of white 

 ants are born with four wings, which enables them to proceed to 

 a distance and found other colonies ; but these wings are only 

 temporary, and I have often been puzzled by finding immense 

 quantities of them." 



