ANT COMMUNITIES 



19 



dioca meal, the bread of the poorer classes of Brazil. 

 At length, whilst residing at an Indian village on the 

 Tapajos, I had ample proof of the fact. One night my 

 servant woke me three or four hours before sunrise by 

 calling out that the rats were robbing the farinha baskets. 

 The article at that time was scarce and dear. I got up, 

 listened, and found the noise was very unlike that made 

 by rats. So I took the light and went into the store- 

 room, which was close to my sleeping-place. I there found 

 a broad column of Saiiba ants, consisting of thousands of 

 individuals, as busy as possible, passing to and fro between 

 the door and my precious baskets. Most of those passing 

 outwards were laden each with a grain of farinha, which 

 was, in some cases, larger and many times heavier than 

 the bodies of the carriers. Farinha consists of grains of 

 similar size and appearance to the tapioca of our shops ; 

 both are products of the same root, tapioca being the 

 pure starch, and farinha the starch mixed with woody 

 fibre, the latter ingredient giving it a yellowish colour. 

 It was amusing to see some of the dwarfs, the smallest 

 members of their family, staggering along, completely 

 hidden under their load. The baskets, which were on 

 a high table, were entirely covered with ants, many 

 hundreds of whom were employed in snipping the dry 

 leaves which served as lining. This produced the rustling 

 sound which had at first disturbed us. My servant told 

 me that they would carry off the whole contents of the 

 two baskets (about two bushels) in the course of the 

 night, if they were not driven off ; so we tried to ex- 

 terminate them by killing them with our wooden clogs. 

 It was impossible, however, to prevent fresh hosts coming 

 in as fast as we killed their companions. They returned 

 the next night ; and I was then obliged to lay trains of 

 gunpowder along their line, and blow them up. This, 

 repeated many times, at last seemed to intimidate them, 

 for we were free from their visits during the remainder 

 of my residence at the place. What they did with the 

 hard dry grains of mandioca I was never able to ascertain, 

 and cannot even conjecture. The meal contains no 

 gluten, and therefore would be useless as cement. It 

 contains only a small relative portion of starch, and, 

 when mixed with water, it separates and falls away like 

 so much earthy matter. It may serve as food for 

 the subterranean workers. But the young or larvae of 



