58 
GUATEMALA. 
cecropia, one of the nettle family, had a hollow trunk 
divided transversely by thin partitions, and from this 
cavity came a swarm of ants. I had here a chance to 
verify the interesting description given by Mr. Belt 1 of 
the habits of these remarkable creatures. As he says, 
they get into the tree by boring a small hole, and then 
eat their way through the many floors of this vegetable 
tower ; they do not, however, eat the tree directly for 
sustenance, but import with great care numbers of coc- 
cidse, or scale-insects, to feed on the tree-juices and elab¬ 
orate a honey-like matter, which the ants eagerly suck 
from a pore on the back of these little cows. I tried in 
vain to find the queen ant; but while every cecropia that 
I touched was tenanted by ants, never a single female 
came to light. There are several small outer doors, for 
the disturbed stem is dotted with the pugnacious little 
ants in a very short time. What first taught the ants to 
farm these dull, inert coccidge ? Other vegetables are ant- 
inhabited, but none that I know of afford such spacious 
accommodations. 
Pleasant as this life on the river and in the forest 
was, the time came when we must return; and it was 
startling how many things we saw on our way down which 
we had passed unnoticed coming up, — tall reeds with 
feathery blossoms more graceful than the pampas-grass; 
palms with bluish green foliage; flowers of the arum 
family more beautiful than a calla; blue herons; butter¬ 
flies of the most attractive colors ; fish like glass, that 
is as transparent, and about a foot long. Frank shot a 
beautiful grossbeak with scarlet breast and metallic green 
back, and brought me a fine purple passion-flower; an- 
1 The Naturalist in Nicaragua, by Thomas Belt, p. 222. 
