Agassiz in Brazil. 



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and valuable specimens from almost every branch of 

 the animal kingdom. The method of hunting was 

 eminently characteristic of the Brazilians. A clear- 

 ing was made in which food was scattered, the 

 hunters concealing themselves in the treetops or on 

 the branches in huts or covers made of leaves from 

 which they shot the capabara, the peccary, or other 

 animals that ventured into the open. 



On one of the rides from this place Agassiz made a 

 study of the famous Cupim or Termites nests, which 

 had been piled up to the extraordinary height of six 

 feet with a diameter of three or four feet. These 

 were hard as rocks, and it was necessary to split them 

 open with axes to study their interiors. The nests 

 he found were built of earth around the trunk of an 

 old tree, the interior being permeated by endless 

 passages — the halls of the remarkable house, which 

 led down into the ground. Agassiz was much inter- 

 ested in this subject and watched the various kinds of 

 ants which came out with all the delight of a student.. 

 To show the remarkable extent of the nests of the 

 Sauba ants, which he also observed, he found that if 

 smoke was blown into their dens it would reappear 

 one quarter of a mile away. The wonders of ant life 

 were almost inexhaustible. Here were ant armies 

 passing over the country in every direction, often 

 looking as if covered with green from the fact that 

 each ant carried a green leaf in its powerful jaws. 

 Agassiz was now in his element, and returned from 

 his various tramps loaded down with collections of 

 all kinds. He was particularly desirous of obtaining 

 a tapir, wishing to compare it to certain extinct 



