FO, RAGING ANTS. 
219 
them, and which are sure to accompany a column of Foraging 
Ants on the march. 
As soon as the experienced inhabitants of tropical America 
see the ant- thrushes, they rejoice in the coming deliverance, 
and welcome the approaching army. The fact is, that in those 
countries insect life swarms as luxuriously as the vegetation, 
and there are many insects which, however useful in their own 
place, are apt to get into houses, and there multiply to such an 
extent, that they become a real plague, and nearly drive the 
inhabitants out of their own homes. They are bad enough 
by day, but at night they issue from the nooks and crevices 
where they lay concealed, and make their presence too pain- 
fully known. 
There are insects that bite, and insects that suck, and in- 
sects that scratch, and insects that sting, and many are re- 
markable for giving out a most horrible odour. Some of them 
are cased in armour as hard as crab-shells, and will endure 
almost any amount of violence, while some are as round, as 
plump, as thin-skinned, and as juicy as over-ripe gooseberries, 
and collapse almost with a touch. There are great flying 
insects which always make for the light, and unless it is de- 
fended by glass, will either put it out, or will singe their wings 
and spin about on the table in a manner that is by no means 
agreeable. The smaller insects get into the inkstand and fill it 
with their tiny carcases, while others run over the paper and 
smear every letter as it is made. There are great centipedes, 
which are legitimate cause of dread, being armed with poison 
fangs scarcely less venomous than those of the viper. There 
are always plenty of scorpions; while the chief army is com- 
posed of cockroaches, of dimensions, appetite, and odour such 
as we can hardly conceive in this favoured land. As to the 
lizards, snakes, and other reptiles, they are so common as 
almost to escape attention. 
For a time these usurpers reign supreme. Now and then a 
few dozen are destroyed in a raid, or a person of sanguine tem- 
perament amuses his leisure hours, and improves his marks- 
manship, by picking off the more prominent intruders with a 
