The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1861-08-14
The BashikoNaY--Fhe Terrible
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The Bashikouay--Flae Terrible
EquAt0Ftat.s Amt; !. ~ ~. i, >,
Du ChailIu gives the following in his re-
cent Adventures in Africa =
"It is their habit to march through the
forests in long and regular line, about tw b
inches broad and often ten miles in. IangtA.~
Along the line are larger ants, who act as
officers, stand outside the ranks and keep
s this singular army naerde1 Ifkthey c&ns,
to place where there are no trees to shelter,
them from the sun, whose heat they cannot
bear, they Immediately build inderggooad',
tunnels, through which the whole armg ;
passes in columns t,Sthe forests beyond
These tunnels are four or five feet under
ground, and are used only in the heat Of the
day or during storm. ..-,.@s. i =!
When theyge. hungry the long file spreads
Itself through the forests in . front Tine, and
d yours all it comes to with fury which IS
quite irresistible. The elephant and gorilla
fly before this attack. 4heibiackrmeu- run
for their lives. Every animal that lives in
their hne Of march is chased. They seem
70 understand and act upon the ,iscties Of
Napoleon, and concentrate with greatespsed
their heaviest forces upon the p5int attaek.l
In an incredibly short space Of time Il o
mouse, or dog, or leopard, or deer, is ove;-
whelmed, killed, eaten, and the bare skele-
ton, only remains. - '-l so. syt,er-
They seem to travel night and day. Many
time have beer awakened out Of sleep,
and obliged to rush from the hut and Into
the water to save my life, and after all suf->
fered intolerable agony from the bites Of the
adval.cc. guard, wEo dad got into my clothes.
When they enter house they icIcariu fisll
living things Rosches are devoured imam
instant Rats and mice spring roIpd ,the>
room in vain An overwhelming force "of
ants kills strong nat in less than,A minute,
in spite Of the most frantic struggles, aid in
less than another minute its bones are strip.
ped. Every living thing in the house is de-
voured. They win notsouch vegetable mat.
ter. Thus they are in reahty very useful,
las well as danserous) to-thc negroes, WHO
have their huts cleaned of all the abounding
vermin, such as immense reaches and cent?
pedes, at least several times a year. 50. &c M.
When or thcr n.arcn thc insect world
flies before them, and I havc often had the
approach of d bashikouay army heralded to-
fme by this means. Wherever they 60 they,
make clean sweep, even ascending to the
tops Of the highest trees in purSg,,h Of their
prey. Their manner of attack IS ai impetus
Gus LEAF. instantly the strong gSpincers are
fastened, and they only let 60 when ths.
psrcc s,TSc, AWAY s'acu rnticS rnis nttles
animal seems animated by kind of a fury,
which causes it to disregard entirely its
own safety, and to seek only the conquest
of its own prey. The bite is very painful
The negroes relate that criminals were in
former times exposed in the path of the BASH
.ikouay ants, as the most cruel manner OF
putting to; death: ~
Two very remarkable practices OF theirs re-
main to be related. When, on their line Of
march, they must cross stream, they throw
themselves across and form tunnel-a liv-
ing tunnel--conneeting two trees or high
bushes on opposite sides of the little stream,
This is done with great speed, and is effect
ed by great number of ants, each of which
clings with its fore claws to its next neigh
boris body or hind claws. Thus they form
a high, safe tubular bridge, through which
the whole vast regiment marches, in regular
order. Ifdisturbed, or if the arch is broken
by the violence ofsome animal, they instant
ly attack the offender with the greatest ani.
mostly. ~ - --',
The bashkouay have the sense of smell
finely developed, as indeed have all the ants
I know Of and they are guided very much
by it. They are larger than any ant we have
in America. being at least half an inch long,
and are armed with very powerful fore legs
and sharpjaws, with whiehthey bite They
are red or dark brown in color. Their mum
bers are so great that one does not Ike to
enter into calculations hut I.hays sebn one
continual line passing at good speed parA
tcuar place for twelve hours. The realss
may imagine for himself how many millions
on millions there may have been contained
here" u,.;.~,