92 
ilAVAGES OF MiCE AND AnIS. 
during the day tliey stowed themselves iu the dark corners, of which 
. there was a fairly large number consequent on the many trunks and 
boxes, underneath Avhich they had dug regular excavations, they 
commenced rambling for food at nightfall. It was sur[>risLng that these 
unpleasant guests should be especially fond of pitching their camp be- 
tween the bottles, jugs, and other water vessels, considering that they had 
fled from the moisture of tlie Siivannah. Were we to move aside a box 
that perhaps Avas not quite flush Avith the ground, usually Avhole nests 
of toads, geckos, lizards, scorjuious, snakes, and scolopendras Avould be 
friglitened out of the conifortalile daily rest in Avhich they Avere peacefully 
indulging. Such a throng of naked, swarming, loathsome A'ermin sent a 
real sliudder tlirough us at liist, until force of habit made us forget our 
weakness and a stiff IkIoav ])roved the best cure for these uninvited guests. 
In the houses occupied by the Indians it Avas only the 
roof that offered the sought-for lurking ]daces, and so the intruders 
were much more easily discovered and destroyed here. We, on the other 
hand, could say in the true sense of the expression that Ave shared 
our quarters Avith toads, reptiles, and other vermin. Shoes, trousers, 
or, to put it shoi tly, CA^ery article of clothing had to be care- 
fully examined first thing in the morning, so that when put on, 
we might have no truck with partners of that nature. It was especially 
the mice among mammals and, moreover, the innumerable species of 
ants, that gave me numy a restless hour on account of their destructive 
fuiT, and many a racking l)rain to protect my collections from their puni- 
tive poAvers.. Among the ants a quite diminutive species that during the 
dry season had never been noticed in the house, now specially distin- 
guished itself by appearing in regular SAvarms, and apparently aiming 
]iarticularly at my insects. Associated with these was a second and still 
smaller kind that developed an unfortunate activity markedly during the 
night. Each morning we learned ancAv that all our precautionary meas- 
ures adopted the day before had i^roved insufficient to paralyse their out- 
rageous efforts. Even if Ave slung our insect l)oxes on cords strongly 
smeared wdth arsenical soap, or left every fresh bird-skin hanging separ- 
atelvin the air. on a similar thread, eveiy effort was, and remained, fruit- 
less: their destructiA^e effects showed in the morning that they had 
nevertheless found tlicir way to them. Nothing proA^ed secure from them 
—except the cassava bread and dried skins. 
232. Another ant, a ml one, larger than both those mentioned, Avas 
less partial to our collections than troublesome to ourselves personally. 
Before these had yet appeared, they had already settled in the ground 
at our tire-place, and Avoe betide him Avho came too close to their nest of 
an evening, for their painful bites Avould remind him olj their Xoli tnc 
tanyvrv Avith more than Avished-for distinctness. However unpleasant the 
insect Avas for us, it had at least one good quality, namely that it exer- 
cised an excellent sanitary police service. No dead insect or piece of flesh, 
even the smallest, escaped them. Hardly did anything of this kind lie on 
the ground than a procession of insects, provided Avith the finest olfactory 
nerves, appeared out of the nest and dragged the corpse inside. 
