the Termites 'of Africa find dther hot climates. 147 
be totally deftroyed as foon as pdflible, that the face of nature 
may be fpeedilv adorned with frefh produ&ions in the bloom of 
fpring or the pride of fummer : fo when trees, and even woods, 
are in part deftroyed by tornadoes or fire, it is wonderful to ob- 
lerve, how many agents are employed ift haftening the total 
diflblution of the reft Cs) ; bat in the hot climates there are none 
fo expert, or who do their bufinefs fo expeditioufiy and effectually, 
as thefe infefls, who in a few weeks deftroy and carry away the 
bodies of large trees, without leaving a particle behind, thus 
clearing the place for other vegetables, which fooli fill up every 
vacancy ; and in places, where two or three years before there 
has been a populous town, if the inhabitants, as is frequently 
the cafe, have chofen to abandon it, there fhall be a very thick 
wood, and not the veftige of a poft to be feen, unlefs the wood has 
been of a fpecies which, from its hardnefs, is called iron wood » 
My general account of the Termites is taken from obferva- 
tions made on the Termes bellicofus , to which X was induced by 
the greater facility And certainty with which they could be made. 
The nefts of this fpecies are fo numerous all over the ifland 
of Bananas, and the adjacent continent of Africa, that it is 
fcarce poffible to ftand upon any open place, fuch as a rice 
'plantation, or other clear fpot, where one of thefe buildings 
is not be feen within fifty paces, and frequently two or three 
are to be feen alrnoft clbfe to each other. In feme parts near Se- 
negal, as mentioned by Monft AdansOn, their number, mag- 
nitude, and clofenefs of fituation, make them appear like the 
villages of the natives C 6 )- and you have yourfelf feen them 
“perhaps ftili more numerous* though not fo large, in New 
Holland. Thefe 
(5) See Stirling fleet’s T rafts. 
( 6 ) “ But of ail the extraordinary things I ohferved, nothing ftruck me more 
4t than certain eminences, which, by their height and regularity, made me take 
U z 44 them 
