RED ANTS. 401 



food. The commandant of the village having slaughtered 

 a cow, slaves were obliged to sit up the whole night, 

 burning fires of straw around the meat, to prevent them 

 from devouring most of it. These ants are frequently met 

 with in numbers, like a small army. At a little distance, 

 they appear as a brownish-red band, two or three inches 

 wide, stretched across the path, all eagerly pressing on in 

 one direction. If a person happens to tread upon them, 

 they rush up his legs and bite with surprising vigour. 

 The first time I encountered this, by no means contemp- 

 tible enemy, was near Cassange. My attention being 

 taken up in viewing the distant landscape, I accidentally 

 stepped upon one of their nests. Not an instant seemed 

 to elapse, before a simultaneous attack was made on 

 various unprotected parts, up the trousers 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, then in desperation 

 tore off all my clothing, and rubbed and picked them off 

 seriatim as quickly as possible. Ugh ! they would make 

 the most lethargic mortal look alive. Fortunately no one 

 observed this rencontre, or word might have been taken 

 back to the village that I had become mad. I was once 

 assaulted in a similar way, when sound asleep at night in 

 my tent, and it was only by holding my blanket over the 

 fire that I could get rid of them. It is really astonishing 

 how such small bodies can contain so large an amount of 

 ill-nature. They not only bite, but twist themselves 

 round after the mandibles are inserted, to produce lacera- 

 tion and pain, more than would be effected by the single 

 wound. Frequently while sitting on the ox, as he 

 happened to tread near a band, they would rush up his 

 legs to the rider, and soon let him know that he had 

 disturbed their march. They possess no fear, attacking 

 with equal ferocity the largest as well as the smallest 

 animals. When any person has leaped over the band, 

 numbers of them leave the r?nks and rush along the path, 

 seemingly anxious for a fight. They are very useful in 

 ridding the country of dead animal matter, and, when 

 they visit a human habitation, clear it entirely of the 

 destructive white ants and other vermin. They destroy 

 many noxious insects and reptiles. The severity of their 

 attack is greatly increased by their vast numbers, and rats, 

 mice, lizards, and even the python natalensis, when in a 



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