LILIPUTIAN MONSTERS. 193 



beeswax. The great number of these companies afforded ample 

 opportunity for the " true ancients " to tell how they had them- 

 selves " entered the ships of the white men." 



The absence in this region of those monsters of the forest 

 whose attentions generally furnish incident for the traveller's 

 story leaves us willing to notice creatures more insignificant. 

 It is a question, though, whether a certain tiny individual who 

 crossed Dr. Livingstone's path one day on Tola Mungongo may 

 be despised in any company. This Liliputian monster was none 

 other than a red ant. Livingstone may tell his own story. 

 " The first time," says he, " that I encountered this by no 

 means contemptible enemy my attention was taken up in view- 

 ing the distant landscape, and I accidentally stepped on one of 

 their nests. Not an instant seemed to elapse before a simul- 

 taneous attack was made on various unprotected parts ; up the 

 trowsers from below and on my neck and breast above. The 

 bites of these furies were like sparks of fire, and there was no 

 retreat. I jumped about for a second or two, and then in 

 desperation tore off all my clothing and rubbed and picked them 

 off seriatim as quickly as possible. It is really astonishing how 

 such small bodies can contain so large an amount of ill nature. 

 They not only bite, but twist themselves around after the man- 

 dibles are inserted to produce laceration and pain more than 

 would be effected by the wound." These savage little wanderers 

 are often seen moving along in vast armies, and look as they 

 cross a path like a brownish-red band two or three inches wide. 

 Such is their voracity, and such multitudes are there, that they 

 will, during a single night, devour the larger part of an ox. 

 They are the plague of rats and reptiles of all descriptions. 



Descending the heights of Tola Mungongo on the 15th, and 

 passing rapidly across the lovely valley as far as Cassange, 

 Livingstone met again the kind welcome of the genial and 

 generous Captain Neves, and on the 28th he met the young 

 man Cypriano, who had so kindly come to his assistance on the 

 banks of the Quango, when the Bashange disputed his right to 

 passage. But the young man had become so much a slave of 

 drink that he had hardly means to afford pleasant entertainment. 

 Already the traders were carrying this baneful article to the 

 distant chiefs. It is sad indeed that with the van of civilization 



