178 THE UNIVERSE. 



into the very heart of the place, and pry into all the com- 

 partments in order to choose their victims, the larvte and 

 nymphs. The workmen which oppose those raids are 

 simply thrown down ; they are not made prisoners, because 

 they would only adapt themselves with difficulty to the 

 yoke; the assailants want only young individuals which 

 they can mould to their will. When the place is com- 

 pletely sacked, each conc[ueror takes a nymph or larva 

 delicately between its teeth and prepares to return. Those 

 who cannot find nymphs or larvte carry off the mutilated 

 dead bodies of their enemies in order to feed on them. 

 Then the whole army, laden with booty, and sometimes 

 stretching out in a line of forty metres in length (130 feet) 

 triumphantly regains its city in the same order as at its 

 departure. 



So soon as the young ants, torn from their homes, reach 

 the al^ode of their spoilers, the slaves already there lavish 

 the most attentive care upon them ; they give them food, 

 cleanse them, and warm their chilled bodies. 



In the slave-making republics concpierors and slaves 

 finish by changing places. Not retaining any part of the 

 old feudal system, the armour of Avhich pressed without 

 ceasing upon the serfs, the former only display courage at 

 the moment of conquest. As soon as ever they have 

 stowed away their booty in the nest, the Amazons refresh 

 themselves after battle by the pleasures of laziness; but 

 being soon enervated thereby, the spoilers pass under the 

 yoke of those they conquered. Their dependence is so 

 complete, that if, after this, one were to carry off' their 

 slaves, privations and inaction would soon destroy the tril)e. 



These spoilers, so ardent in the chase, revolt against all 

 domestic Avork ; they only understand fighting. Incapable 

 of constructing their abodes or nourishing their young, 



