44 



RtfD ANTS. 



until, on a nearer examination, 1 saw one of the 

 red ants coming out of a small hole which there 

 was at one side of the bag, with its load upon 

 its back, and soon another followed, and so 

 forth. I now accidentally put my hand upon 

 the bag, and it fell still lower ; so that an arch 

 must have been formed within, either by a very 

 singular chance, or by the management of these 

 most extraordinary insects. 



Upon another evening, they made their ap- 

 pearance in such great numbers as to darken the 

 floor of the corner of the room from which they 

 proceeded. I sent for some dried leaves of the 

 coco-tree, and only got rid of the enemy by 

 making in the house a bonfire upon the spot of 

 which they had taken possession. I had some 

 pomegranate trees at the back of the. cottage, 

 which I was preserving with great care ; and I 

 had one evening particularly admired tine beauty 

 of one of these plants, which was covered with 

 red blossoms. In the morning the flowers were 

 still upon the tree, but scarcely any leaves re- 

 mained ; these were upon the ground, and some 

 of the destroyers were cutting off the few which 

 still were left, whilst their companions were oc- 

 cupied below in conveying away the spoil. I 

 could not avoid watching them for some mi- 

 nutes, and admiring their ingenuity and sys- 

 tematic manner of going to work ; but soon f 

 vowed vengeance upon these enemies, and im- 



