398 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 
Chap. L. 
sino " in tar Bagrimma (the language of Bagirmi) — 
termes mordax, — is one of the most troublesome ; and 
besides some smaller skirmishes with this insect, I had 
to sustain, one day, a very desperate encounter with 
a numerous host of these voracious little creatures, 
that were attacking my residence with a stubborn 
pertinacity which would have been extremely amusing 
if it had not too intimately affected my whole exist- 
ence. In a thick uninterrupted line, about an inch 
broad, they one morning suddenly came marching 
over the wall of my court-yard, and entering the hall 
which formed my residence by day and night, they 
made straight for my store-room ; but unfortunately, 
my couch being in their way, they attacked my own 
person most fiercely, and soon obliged me to decamp. 
We then fell upon them, killing those that were 
straggling about and foraging, and burning the chief 
body of the army as it came marching along the 
path ; but fresh legions came up, and it took us at 
least two hours before we could fairly break the lines 
and put the remainder of the hostile army to flight. 
On this occasion the insects seemed to have been 
attracted entirely by the store of corn which I had 
laid in from Bakada. In general their hostile at- 
tacks have also a beneficial effect, for, as they invade 
the huts of the natives, they destroy all sorts of 
vermin, mice included. But while in some respects 
these black ants may be called the "scavengers of 
the houses," in many parts of Negroland they often 
become also very useful by their very greediness in 
