186 
The Two-Headed Snake. 
mandibles, for which reason the Colonists also call it Umbrella ant: the 
other column is occupied by insects returning to the field. If the interval 
between the field and nest is too great, one notices another party coming 
to meet the tired carriers half-way and relieving them of their burdens 
which they now transport to headquarters, the others returning to the 
field. Although thousands are moving up and down not one insect steps 
in another's way, not one insect blocks the advance, or checks those 
which follow on in busy haste: everything runs as continuously and 
smoothly as clockwork. If the path is traced up to the site of destruc- 
tion, one finds on it a third contingent consisting of the strongest and 
largest individuals that are restlessly engaged in biting the little round 
pieces out of the leaves and letting them fall on the ground where they 
are picked up by the busy carriers and conveyed away. Nothing, 
neither fire nor water, nor any break in the pathway nor any other 
obstacle can prevail upon them to give up their work. Should thousands 
be killed by extreme violence, not a single corpse will be seen within a 
few hours: or directly the danger is over the dead bodies are removed. 
If the track be barred by some object which the feeble efforts of the 
ants fail to remove, they will soon get round it: if it be destroyed com- 
pletely, one finds it re-established within a short while. 
1)24. The ants themselves, especially the winged females, are deemed 
a delicacy by the Indians who bite off the abdomen which is eaten raw 
or roasted : it has indeed a pleasant sweet taste. 
(325. In these ant-mounds is usually to be found the Coecilia 
annulata, the “Two-headed Snake” as the Colonists call it, allied to the 
blindworms (Lurchen) which, according to what the Indians say, is fed 
by the ants like the Claviger by the beetles. I noticed for myself during 
my subsequent stay in the Morocco that the Coecilia is really a frequent 
resident in the nests and Fr. Cullen assured us that when he tried to 
destroy the troublesome insects by fires lighted over their mounds or by 
digging them out, he had come across numbers of the worm. Now, 
whether the power of attraction depends upon the animal heat or par- 
ticular atmosphere present in these mounds, or whether it is that the 
Coecilia , which always lives in the ground, only seeks the loose soil 
contained in them for the purpose of digging itself in with greater 
facility — the ants at any rate tolerate the worm, and the latter seeks for 
the ants and so both live together in brotherly concord. All Fr. 
Cullen’s attempts to get rid of the nuisance had hitherto proved fruitless 
and his earnest wish to lay out a garden close to the church remained 
impracticable: for what he planted today would to-morrow either dis- 
appear without a trace or be completely destroyed. Arsenic seems the 
only thing to exterminate them — but what amount would be necessary 
to destroy such millions? 
626. As we had made up our minds to leave Morocco next morning 
the Father expressed a wish to accompany us to Georgetown where he 
intended collecting subscriptions to which we gladly contributed our 
mite for building a church separate from his private quarters. The last 
hours of our stay were once more spent in true Irish fashion : songs 
