464 WHITE ANTS. Chap. XXUI. 



snails at home do ; and in the evenings the white ants swarm by- 

 thousands. A stream of them is seen to rush out of a hole, and, 

 after flying one or two hundred yards, they descend ; and if they 

 light upon a piece of soil proper for the commencement of a new 

 colony, they bend up their tails, unhook their wings, and, leaving 

 them on the surface, quickly begin their mining operations. If an 

 attempt is made to separate the wings from the body by drawing 

 them away backwards, they seem as if hooked into the body, and 

 tear away large portions of the insect ; but if turned forward, as 

 the ant itself does, they snap off with the greatest ease. Indeed 

 they seem formed only to serve the insect in its short flight to a 

 new habitation, and then to be thrown aside. Nothing can exceed 

 the eagerness with which at the proper time they rush out from 

 their birthplace. Occasionally this occurs in a house, and then, 

 in order to prevent every corner from being filled with them, 

 I have seen a fire placed over the orifice ; but they hesitate not 

 even to pass through the fire. While swarming they appear like 

 snow-flakes floating about in the air, and dogs, cats, hawks, and 

 almost every bird, may be seen busily devouring them. The 

 natives, too, profit by the occasion, and actively collect them for 

 food, they being about half an inch long, as thick as a crowquill, 

 and very fat. When roasted they are said to be good, and some- 

 what resemble grains of boiled rice. An idea may be formed of 

 this dish by what once occurred on the banks of the Zouga. The 

 Bayeiye chief Palani visiting us while eating, I gave him a piece 

 of bread and preserved apricots ; and as he seemed to relish it 

 much, I asked him if he had any food equal to that in his country. 

 " Ah," said he, " did you ever taste white ants ?" As I never had, 

 he replied, " Well, if you had, you never could have desired to eat 

 anytliing better." The general way of catching them is to dig 

 into the ant-hill, and wait till all the builders come forth to repair 

 the damage ; then brush them off quickly into a vessel, as the 

 ant-eater does into his mouth. 



The fall of the rain makes all the cattle look fresh and clean, 

 and both men and women proceed cheerily to their already hoed 

 gardens, and sow the seed. The large animals in the country 

 leave the spots where they had been compelled to congregate for 

 the sake of water, and become much wilder. Occasionally a herd 

 of buffaloes or antelopes smell rain from afar, and set off in a 



