THE WHITE ANT 
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uitous, mostly sub-rounded cones of 5 or 10 feet in 
height, but some mountainous piles of 20 feet and 
upwards; others of pyramidal form or sharply pinnacled 
spires. There are regions—as near Lake Baringo— 
where they spring up tall and straight as factory 
chimneys, and in the Bahr-el-Ghazal there is a form that 
takes the shape of giant mushrooms. But, big or little, 
never a white ant is to be seen near them, or taking 
the slightest interest in his reputed architecture. How 
is this? He belongs to what I called —while blindly 
groping about for an answer to that question—“ The 
Unseen World” [On Safari , p. 258). While white ants 
obviously exist around one in untold myriads, how comes 
it that one never sees a single individual? An answer 
to the question unfolded quite by chance. Being held-up 
in camp by a “touch of fever,” I was constrained during 
several days involuntarily to study the modus operandi of 
the termite. First a very gentle movement at the foot of 
the tent-pole caught my eye. For a while I gave the 
trifle no thought till its very continuity aroused interest. 
Then gradually the details of a methodical plan of 
campaign developed. Grain by grain, an army of 
termites were carrying up the subsoil from below and 
plastering it on the tent-pole. Each allotted burden, 
being carried upon the labourer’s head, concealed from 
view the bearer beneath. The separate pellets each 
appeared to be ascending spontaneously—rising of their 
own volition. But so soon as each had reached its allotted 
position, there it was deposited and its troubled journey 
ceased. These pellets (though I did not know that at the 
time) are already rendered adhesive by a glutinous 
secretion exuded from the jaws of the builders ; and thus 
inch by inch the termite constructs a concealing and 
protective fortification—a sort of tunnel—as he ascends. 
During the first day the tent-pole was encased in a mastic 
compost to a height of 12 inches good; and, since work 
proceeds all night without cessation, by next morning 
