, i88 TRAVELS IN 
and of the fame colour as the earth of which 
they have been formed. 
The Hottentots eat the nymphs of thefc 
ants, which they confider as a very great deli- 
cacy 5 and mine, when they found an opportu- 
nity, did not fail to open the nefts to get at 
them. There are alfo many birds and quadru- 
peds which carry on war againft thefe infe£ts ; 
but their moft dangerous enemy is a fpecies of 
ant-bear, called by the planters erd-varken^ 
(earth- hog), which makes them its principal 
nourilhment. When thefe retreats have been 
fearched and deferted, they become bee-hives, 
and fwarms of wild bees take poffeffion of them 
in order to depofit there their honey and their 
young. My ape Kees fliewed a wonderful 
in{lin(9: in difcovering thefe fecret repofitories 
of dainties, which he announced by repeatedly 
{kipping and jumping, and of which we fliared 
with him the profits: as for me, when I found 
any of thefe nefts empty, and when, having 
been opened only on the fides, their arched 
roofs remained entire and unhurt, I applied 
them to a very ufeful purpofe ; I made natural 
ovens of them in which we cooked our vidtuals. 
Very little preparation was neceffary, except 
to 
