Chap. XXXVIII. DEATH OF THE TERMITES. 
5 
tenure of life is so precarious, and they seem to be 
so weak, that they become very troublesome, as they 
fall in every direction upon man and his food. 
Of each swarm of these insects only one couple 
seems destined to survive ; all the rest die a violent 
death. 
The town now began to present quite a different ap- 
pearance ; but while it was agreeable to see the dry- 
ness relieved, and succulent grass and fresh crops 
springing up all around, and supplanting the dull 
uniformity of the Asclepias gigantea, on the other 
hand, the extensive waterpools formed everywhere in 
the concavities of the ground, were by no means con- 
ducive to health, more especially as those places were 
depositories of all sorts of offal, and of putrefying car- 
casses of many kinds. The consequence was that my 
health, instead of improving, became worse, although 
I struggled hard, and as often as possible rode out on 
horseback. All the people were now busy in the 
labours of the field, although cultivation in the neigh- 
bourhood of the town is not of a uniform, but of a 
varied character ; and a large portion of the ground, 
consisting of " ange " and " ffrki," is reserved for the 
culture of the masakuwa (Holcus cernuus), or winter- 
corn, with its variety the keriram. 
On the 8th of August the neighbourhood presented 
a very animated spectacle, the crownlands in Ga- 
wange being then cultivated by a great number of 
people, working to the sound of a drum. Their 
labours continued till the 15th; on which day Mr. 
B 3 
