ous, _furious; without care for what happens_.

crim'i nals, _those who have broken the law_.

con'cen trate, _gather in a large mass_.

in tol'er a ble, _not to be borne_.

ir re sist'i ble, _can not be opposed_.

* * * * *

AFRICAN ANTS.

A strange kind of ant is very abundant in the whole region I have
traveled over in Africa, and is the most voracious creature I ever met.
It is the dread of all living animals, from the leopard to the smallest
insect.

I do not think that these ants build nests or homes of any kind. At any
rate they carry nothing away, but eat all their prey on the spot. It is
their habit to march through the forests in a long, regular line--a line
about two inches broad and often several miles in length. All along this
line are larger ants, who act as officers, stand outside the ranks, and
keep this singular army in order.

If they come to a place where there are no trees to shelter them from
the sun, whose heat they can not bear, they immediately build
underground tunnels, through which the whole army passes in columns to
the forest beyond. These tunnels are four or five feet underground, and
are used only in the heat of the day, or during a storm.

When, they grow hungry the long file spreads itself through the forest
in a front line, and attacks and devours all it overtakes with a fury
which is quite irresistible. The elephant and gorilla fly before this
attack. The black men run for their lives. Every animal that lives in
their line of march is chased.

They seem to understand and act upon the tactics of Napoleon, and
concentrate with great speed their heaviest forces upon the point of
attack. In an incredibly short space of time the mouse, or dog, or
leopard, or deer, is overwhelmed, killed, eaten, and the bare skeleton
only remains.

They seem to travel night and day. Many a time have I been awakened out
of a sleep, and obliged to rush from the hut and into the water to save
my life, and after all suffered intolerable agony from the bites of the
advance-guard, that had got into my clothes.

When they enter a house they clear it of all living things. Cockroaches
are devoured in an instant. Rats and mice spring round the room in vain.
An overwhelming force of ants kill a strong rat in less than a minute,
in spite of the most frantic struggles, and in less than another minute
its bones are stripped. Every living thing in the house is devour