THE TERMITE , OR WHITE ANT. 
209 
workers, who have reserved certain apertures in the royal apart- 
ment through which they can easily pass. When the eggs are 
hatched, the young are carefully watched and tended until they 
are at last developed into males, females, or neuters, and them- 
selves are able to take part in the manual work. 
A full-sized nest of the African Termite is a wonderful struc- 
ture. Although made merely of clay, the walls are nearly as 
hard as stone, and quite as hard as the brick of which ‘ villa 
residences ? are usually built. The form- of the nest is essen- 
tially conical, a large cone occupying the centre, and smaller 
cones being grouped round it, like pinnacles round a Gothic 
spire. 
In Anderson's valuable work, ‘ Lake N garni/ there are many 
detached accounts of the African Termite. He states that he 
has seen nests which were full twenty feet in height, and had a 
circumference of a hundred feet, and that when the insects were 
developed and obtained their wings, they issued forth in such 
hosts that the air seemed as if it were filled with dense and 
white snow-flakes. So strong is the instinct for rushing into the 
air, that they can scarcely be retained within the nest, and will 
even pass through fire in order to gain their end. 
The nests are always interesting objects, even from the ex- 
terior. The walls are so hard that hunters are accustomed to 
mount upon them for the purpose of looking out for game, and 
the wild buffalo has a similar habit, the structure being strong 
enough even to support the weight of so large an animal. The 
daily labours of the architects can easily be traced, on account 
of the dampness of the recent clay, so that an approximation 
can be formed as to the length of time which is occupied in 
erecting one of the nests. The traveller is always glad to see a 
large Termite nest, because he is nearly sure to find the surface 
studded with mushrooms, which are larger and better flavoured 
than those which our fields produce. 
The natives have another motive for looking after the Termite 
nests, because they eat the inmates, considering them to be a 
peculiar luxury. The same author whom I have already men- 
tioned, describes a curious interview that he had with Palani, a 
