Bairstow : Natural History Notes from South Africa. 145 



in the case of termites or white ants, which are, during the warm 

 season, such a pest in this country. It is very seldom during the 

 winter that they appear above the surface, but on the 13th of this 

 month (August) the ground was darkened by swarms of those insects, 

 hastily carrying to their nests the dry leaves and stems of the plants* 

 of which I send you by this post a specimen. On the 8th we had a 

 fall of snow, and it kept extremely cold until the 13th, which was 

 a warm day, whilst from the 14th the thermometer lowered again. 

 There are houses in this neighbourhood which their owners have been 

 compelled to abandon altogether, the ants having taken possession of 

 them, from the floor to the ceiling. I have tried lime and various 

 other means to expel them, but have so far succeeded only partly to 

 keep them aloof from places imbibed with Calvert's disinfectant. Teak 

 wood is said to be the only kind which they do not pierce. Informa- 

 tion on the subject would prove very beneficial to the farmers of 

 South Africa." 



Respecting Yertebrata my first impressions are scarcely worth 

 recording. Mammals (Rodents or a few small and common^^Carnivora 

 excepted), kept without my reach, and the reptiles I avoided until I 

 learnt a little more about the "pisenous" species. I don't mean to say 

 that I have not seen a jackal monkey, baboon, porcupine, or any ordi- 

 nary brute. I desire their skins better than their friendship ; but I 

 certainly was pleased in spotting a fine Monitor Lizard, common in our 

 valley stream. I was glad to secure a handsome hawksbill turtle, cast 

 up by the sea waves. f Its interior was a perfect mess of shell pottage. 

 Our common tortoise is, I believe, Tedado Qr^sca, but the great berg 

 tortoise, the starry, and the trap tortoise, occur also in some districts. 

 We have a great variety of non-poisonous snakes, and some really 

 lovely species. I have met and run away from a puff-adder — a most 

 deadly reptile. I have been called in by my next door neighbour to 

 measure the proportions of a sweet little night-adder. When first seen, 

 it was passing over a lady's naked foot. That lady remarked to her 

 good man — " My love ! (I think that was the expression, perhaps it was 

 dear ! I really don't recollect), there is a snake on my foot ! " That 

 lady was a Joan d' Arc. The good man grasped a lead weight and 

 smashed that night-adder's laterals just as they were disappearing 



* One of the Ghempodece, a true Salicornia. — R. Plallack. 



t Probably gone astray. A visitor from eastern seas. We have also a green 

 turtle. Some of these in the up-country districts are taken of tremendous size, 

 over six feet long. 



