. Narrative of an expedition to the Zambesi and its tributaries; and of the discovery of the lakes Shirwa and Nyassa. 1858-1864 . Elephants and buffaloes seldom return to the river by thesame path on two successive nights, they become so appre- 206 ELEPHANTS—WHITE ANTS. Chap. IX. hensive of danger from this human art. An old elephantwill walk in advance of the herd, and uncover the pits withhis trunk, that the others may see the openings and tread onfirm ground. Female elephants are generally the victims:more timid by nature than the males, and very motherly intheir anxiety for their calves, t
. Narrative of an expedition to the Zambesi and its tributaries; and of the discovery of the lakes Shirwa and Nyassa. 1858-1864 . Elephants and buffaloes seldom return to the river by thesame path on two successive nights, they become so appre- 206 ELEPHANTS—WHITE ANTS. Chap. IX. hensive of danger from this human art. An old elephantwill walk in advance of the herd, and uncover the pits withhis trunk, that the others may see the openings and tread onfirm ground. Female elephants are generally the victims:more timid by nature than the males, and very motherly intheir anxiety for their calves, they carry their trunks up,trying every breeze for fancied danger, which often, in reali-ty, lies at their feet. The tusker, fearing less, keeps histrunk down, and, warned in time by that exquisitely sensi-tive organ, takes heed to his ways. Our camp on the Sinjere stood under a wide-spreadingwild fig-tree. From the numbers of this family, of large size,dotted over the country, the fig or banyan species wouldseem to have been held sacred in Africa from the remotesttimes. The soil teemed with white ants, whose clay tunnels,. Tunnels of Ants. formed to screen them from the eyes of birds, thread overthe ground, up the trunks of trees and along the branches, Chap. IX. BATTLE OF ANTS. 207 from which the little architects clear away all rotten or deadwood. Very often the exact shape of branches is left intunnels on the ground, and not a bit of the wood first night we passed here these destructive insects atethrough our grass-beds, and attacked our blankets, and cer:tain large red-headed ones even bit our flesh. On some days not a single white ant is to be seen abroad;and on others, and during certain hours, they appear out ofdoors in myriads, and work with extraordinary zeal and en-ergy in carrying bits of dried grass down into their these busy reaping-fits the lizards and birds have agood time of it, and enjoy a rich feast at the expense of thou-sands of hap
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