WHITE ANTS. 
511 
over the body of the queen, as if to exclude the air, 
or to hide her from the observation of some enemy. 
These, if not interrupted, before the next morning 
completely cover her, leaving room enough within 
for great numbers to run about her. 
“ I do not mention the king in this case, because 
he is very small in proportion to the queen, not 
being bigger than thirty of the labourers, so that he 
generally conceals himself under one side of the ab- 
domen, except when he goes up to the queen’s head, 
which he does now and then, but not so frequently 
as the rest. 
t£ If in your attack on the hill you stop short of 
the royal chamber, and cut down about half of the 
building, and leave open some thousands of galleries 
and chambers, they will all be shut up with thin 
sheets of clay before the next morning. If even the 
whole is pulled down, and the different buildings are 
thrown in a confused heap of ruins, provided the 
king and queen are not destroyed or taken away, 
every interstice between the ruins, at which either 
cold or wet can possibly enter, will be so covered as 
to exclude both ; and, if the animals are left undis- 
turbed, in about a year they will raise the building 
to near its pristine size and grandeur.” 
Having thus concluded the history of these most 
ingenious creatures, we ought perhaps to apologize 
for having; inserted the account in so full a man- 
ner : but, when we consider the almost incredible 
operations of these animals, their order and regu- 
larity at home, and their astonishing industry in the 
