WHITE ANTS. 
481 
with such art and ingenuity, that we are at a 
loss to say, whether they are most to be admired 
on that account, or for their enormous magnitude 
and solidity. It is from the two lower orders of 
this, or a similar species, that Linnaeus seems to 
have taken his description of th eTermes fatalis ; and 
most of the accounts brought home from Africa or 
Asia, of the white ants, are also taken from a species 
that are so much alike in external habit and size, 
and build so much in their manner, that one may 
almost venture to pronounce them mere variations 
of the same species. 
“ My general account of the termites is taken 
from observations made on the Termes beliicosus , to 
which I was induced by the greater facility and 
certainty with which they could be made. The 
nests of this species are so numerous all over the 
island of Bananas, and the adjacent continent of 
Africa, that it is scarce possible to stand upon any 
open place, such as a rice plantation, or other clear 
spot, where one of these buildings is not to be seen 
within fifty paces, and frequently two or three are 
to be seen almost close to each other. In some 
parts near Senegal, as mentioned by Mons. Adan- 
son, their number, magnitude, and closeness of 
situation, make them appear like the villages of the 
natives. These buildings are usually termed hills, 
by natives as well as strangers, from their outward 
appearance, which is that of little hills more or less 
conical, generally pretty much in the form of sugar- 
loaves, and about ten or twelve feet in perpendicular 
VOL. II. 2 i 
