365 
found in the same nest. The white ant is about the size of a small 
grain of rice; has a white body, appearing like a maggot, and a 
very strong red head, armed with powerful forceps: it has four 
short legs. They are an article of food among some of the low 
castes in Mysore, and the Carnatic. 
A nest of these extraordinary insects, in a very singular situa- 
tion, is mentioned in the drama of Sacontala. “ A little beyond 
“ the grove you see a pious Yogee, motionless as a pollard, hold- 
“ ing his thick bushy hair, and fixing his eyes on the solar orb! 
“ Mark; his body is half covered with a white-ants’ edifice made 
“of raised clay; the skin of a snake supplies the place of his 
“sacerdotal thread, and part of it girds his loins; a number of 
“knotty plants encircle and wound his neck; and surrounding 
“ birds’-nests almost conceal his shoulders.” 
In the king of Travencore’s dominions are some useful public 
works, but nothing comparable to those in the northern parts of 
Hindostan: among other beneficial undertakings of the former 
sovereigns are rows of chashew-apple trees on each side of the 
principal public roads, extending for many miles: these trees are 
shady, and beautiful in foliage, blossoms, and fruit. Formerly the 
road from Lahore to Agra, a distance of near five hundred miles, 
was in the same manner shaded by large trees; and where there 
was a deficiency of wells, persons were placed in small arbours at 
convenient distances, to supply water gratis, to the traveller. 
Gold dust is said to be sometimes found in the Nelambur river 
and other mountainous torrents of Malabar; iron is certainly pro- 
duced in many places, where they have erected forges for smelting 
