424 
INSECTS. 
[Chap. XII. 
and fiercely assaulted by the ants as to endanger their 
stay on the estates. 
The ants which burrow in the ground in Ceylon are 
generally, but not invariably, black, and some of them 
are of considerable size. One species, about the third 
of an inch in length, is abundant in the hills, and espe- 
cially about the roots of trees, where they pile up the 
earth in circular heaps round the entrance to their 
nests, and in doing this I have observed a singular 
illustration of their instinct. To carry up each particle 
of sand by itself would be an endless waste of labour, 
and to carry two or more loose ones securely would be 
to them embarrassing, if not impossible. To overcome 
the difficulty they glue together with their saliva so 
much earth or sand as is sufficient for a burden, and 
each ant may be seen hurrying up from below with his 
load, carrying it to the top of the circular heap outside, 
and throwing it over, the mass being so strongly attached 
as to roll to the bottom without breaking asunder. 
The ants I have been here describing are inoffensive, 
differing in this particular from the Dimiya and another 
of similar size and ferocity, which is called by the Sing- 
halese Kaddiya. They have a legend illustrative of 
their alarm for the bites of the latter, to the effect that 
the cobra de capello invested the Kadcliya with her own 
venom in admiration of the singular courage displayed 
by these little creatures. 1 
Lepidopteea. Butterflies. — In the interior of the 
island butterflies are comparatively rare, and, contrary 
to the ordinary belief, they are seldom to be seen in the 
sunshine. They frequent the neighbourhood of the 
jungle, and especially the vicinity of the rivers and 
1 Knox's Historical Relation of Ceylon, pt. i. ch. vi. p. 23. 
