p fell to the ground when they had
made more than half the journey of the wall; the courageous little
creatures, however, were nothing daunted, they resumed their labour, and
before evening their prize was safely housed.

These ants are particularly fond of animal food. I once caught a tarantula;
it was evening, and I wished to examine it by daylight. I placed it for
this purpose in a recess of the wall, under a tumbler, leaving just
breathing room. In the morning I went to examine my curiosity, when to my
surprise it was dead and swarming with red ants, who had been its
destroyers, and were busily engaged in making a feast on the (to them)
huge carcass of the tarantula.

These small creatures often prove a great annoyance by their nocturnal
visits to the beds of individuals, unless the precaution be taken of
having brass vessels, filled with water, to each of the bed-feet; the only
method of effectually preventing their approach to the beds. I was once
much annoyed by a visit from these bold insects, when reclining on a couch
during the extreme heat of the day. I awoke by an uneasy sensation from
their bite or sting about my ears and face, and found they had assembled
by millions on my head; the bath was my immediate resource. The Natives
tell me these little pests will feed on the human body if they are not
disturbed: when any one is sick there is always great anxiety to keep them
away.

The large black ant is also an enemy to man; its sharp pincers inflict
wounds of no trifling consequence; it is much larger than the common fly,
has long legs, is swift of foot, and feeds chiefly on animal substances. I
fancy all the ant species are more or less carnivorous, but strictly
epicurean in their choice of food, avoiding tainted or decomposed
substances with the nicest discrimination. Sweetmeats are alluring to them;
there is also some difficulty in keeping them from jars of sugar or
preserves; and when swallowed in food, are the cause of much personal
inconvenience.

I have often witnessed the Hindoos, male and female, depositing small
portions of sugar near ants' nests, as acts of charity to commence the day
with;[6] and it is the common opinion with the Natives generally, that
wherever the red ants colonize prosperity attends the owners of that house.
They destroy the white ants, though the difference in their size is as a
grain of sand to a barley-corn; and on that account only may be viewed
rather as friends than en