354 WHTTE ANTS. Chap. XXVH 



grass was laid down for my bed on a spot which was quite 

 smooth and destitute of plants. The ants at once sounded the 

 call to a good supply of grass. I heard them incessantly nib- 

 bling and carrying away all that night ; and they continued 

 all next day and night with unabated energy, and yet, after 

 thirty-six hours of incessant toil, they seemed as fresh as 

 ever. In some situations, if we remained a day, they de- 

 voured the grass beneath my mat, and would have eaten the 

 mat too, had we not laid down more grass. At some of their 

 operations they beat time in a curious manner. Hundreds of 

 them are engaged in building a large tube, and at a signal 

 they all give three or four energetic beats on the plaster in 

 unison, in order to beat it smooth, producing a sound like the 

 pattering of drops of rain off a bush when it is shaken. These 

 insects are the chief agents employed in forming a fertile soil, 

 and, were it not for their labours, the tropical forests, bad as 

 they now are with fallen trees, would be a thousand times 

 worse. They would be impassable on account of the heaps 

 of dead vegetation lying on the surface, and emitting worse 

 effluvia than the comparatively small unburied collections now 

 do. When one looks at the wonderful adaptations through- 

 out creation, and the varied operations carried on with such 

 wisdom and skill, the idea of second causes looks clumsy. 

 We feel that, we are viewing the direct handiwork of Him 

 who is the one and only Power in the universe ; wonderful 

 in counsel ; in whom we all live and move and have our 

 being. 



November 28th. — We proceeded to Kaonka's village, situated 

 on the hill of the same name already referred to. According 

 to Sekeletu's order, Kaonka gave us the tribute of maize-corn 

 and ground-nuts, which would otherwise have gone to Linyanti. 

 This had been done at every village, and we thereby saved 

 the people the trouble of a journey to the capital. After 

 leaving Kaonka we travelled over a gently undulating and 

 beautiful district, forming the border territory between those 

 who accept, and those who reject, the sway of the Makololo. 

 There are no rivers, though water stands in pools in the 

 hollows. The soil is dry, and suited both for cattle and corn ; 

 there are few trees, but fine large shady ones stand dotted 

 here and there about the former sites of towns. One of the 



