x6z smeatiman's Account of 
This fpecies has the external habit, fize,,.and almofi the colour* 
of the Tcrmes atrox (tab. X. fig, 21.). 
The re are fome nejft& built iix thefe- fetidy plains which we 
call, after the Spaniards, Savannas T that refemble the hill 
nefts firft defcribed. They are compofed of a black mud, which 
is brought from a few inches below the white fend, and are* 
built in the form of an imperfect cane* or bell-fhaped, having 
their tops rounded. Thefe nefts.. are generally about four or 
five feet high C 1 ?). As I few thefe only in paffing through 
various Savannahs upon other purfuits, I can fey very little of . 
their interior parts. They feemed to be inhabited by nearly as | 
large infedts, differing very little except in colour, which is. j 
lighter, than that of the Termites belli 'cofu 
Having given feme idea of the nefts* I fhall beg your patient, 
reading of a more particular account of the infedls themfelves, 
which will be exceeding neceffary to a tolerable acquaintance 
with their oeconomy and management,, their manner of build- 
ing, fighting, and' marching,, and to a more particular account: 
of their ufes in the. creation, and of the vaft mifchief they 
caufe to-mankind. 
...... 
(if) u The nefrs of Ants are about four feet wide at the bafe,- and two high,'. 
84 of an hemispherical form. Though made in loofe fand, they are fo hard as' 
not to be broken without, great efforts, and a laden cart could not break 
“■ through* — -In O6tober and November they add a new ftory. * — The Cochons 
de Terre. (theXefL Ant -eater of Mr. pennant) make holes in thefe nefts eight 
inches in diameter and fix deep ; arid having destroyed the inhabitants, the neji-i 
84 is abandoned , hut fometimes the Ants repair it.'* This laft paragraph feems 
rather founded- on conje£ture. Voyage au Gap. par M. L’Abbe de la caille, ■ 
P? 3°5 — 356* 
oviEDo alfo fays Ants make hillocks as high as .a man, 
iftmong 
