warm through the
forests? Every shrub is full of creeping life, and the decayed
vegetation affords harbor for some peculiar kinds of these insects.
The large yellow _puca-cici_ is seen in multitudes in the open air,
and it even penetrates into the dwellings. This insect does not bite,
but its crawling creates great irritation to the skin. The small black
_yana-cici_, on the contrary, inflicts most painful punctures. A very
mischievous species of stinging ant is the black _sunchiron_. This
insect inflicts a puncture with a long sting, which he carries in the
rear of his body. The wound is exceedingly painful, and is sometimes
attended by dangerous consequences. My travelling companion, C. Klee,
being stung by one of these ants, suffered such severe pain and
fever, that he was for a short while delirious. A few nights
afterwards, a similar attack was made on myself during sleep. It
suddenly awoke me, and caused me to start up with a convulsive
spring. I must confess that I never, in my whole life, experienced
such severe pain as I did at that moment.

A most remarkable phenomenon is exhibited by the swarms of the species
called the _naui-huacan-cici_,[95] the great _wandering ant_. They
appear suddenly in trains of countless myriads, and proceed forward in
a straight direction, without stopping. The small, the weak, and the
neuters are placed in the centre, while the large and the strong flank
the army, and look out for prey. These swarms, called by the natives
_Chacus_, sometimes enter a hut and clear it of all insects, amphibia,
and other disagreeable guests. This work being accomplished, they again
form themselves into a long train, and move onwards. The united force
of these small creatures is vast, and there is no approach to the
fabulous, when it is related that not only snakes, but also large
mammalia, such as agoutis, armadillas, &c., on being surprised by
them, are soon killed. On the light dry parts of the higher Montanas we
find the large conical dwellings of the termes so firmly built, that
they are impenetrable even to rifle shot. They sometimes stand singly,
sometimes together, in long lines. In form they strongly resemble the
simple, conical Puna huts.

Before leaving the animal kingdom of these forest regions, which I have
here sketched only briefly and fragmentally, I must notice two insects,
the _Cucaracha_ and the _Chilicabra_, species of the Cockroach
(_Blatta_). They are exceedingly numerous and tro