191 



Those who do not know the immense quantity 

 of ants, that infest every country within the tor- 

 rid zone, can scarcely form an idea of the de- 

 struction, and of the sinking of the ground 

 occasioned by these insects. They abound to 

 such a degree on the spot where Valencia is 

 placed, that their excavations resemble subter- 

 raneous canals, which are filled with water in 

 the time of the rains, and become very dange- 

 rous to the buildings. Here recourse has not 

 been had to the extraordinary means employed 

 at the beginning of the sixteenth century in the 

 island of St. Domingo, when troops of ants ra- 

 vaged the fine plains of La Vega, and the rich 

 possessions of the order of St. Francis. The 

 monks, after having in vain burnt the larvae of 

 the ants, and had recourse to fumigations, ad- 

 vised the inhabitants to choose by lot a saint, 

 who would serve as an abagado contra las hor- 

 migas*. The honour of the choice fell on St. 

 Saturnin ; and the ants disappeared, as soon as 

 the first festival of this saint was celebrated. 

 Incredulity has made great progress since the 

 time of the conquest ; and it was on the back of 

 the Cordilleras only, that I found a small chapel, 

 destined, according to it's inscription, for prayers 

 to be addressed to Heaven for the destruction 

 of the termites. 



* Herrera, Decad, II, & 3 ? c. 14, 



