The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1867-06-05
Tho Ants of Africa


Tuesday evening last, NJ. Du Chail-
~ delivered ct the Cooper Institute,
New York, tic first of series of lcc
lures on equatorial Africa, the scene
OF his late exploration. Among many
curious things related by him, the fol-
lowing will strike the reader as very
remarkable
This cvoning time forbids that I
should speak at any length of tho
natural history of the country. In
these equatorial forests there arc
found vast number Of ants--without
tne II which | got accustomed to in
England (!aughtcr)--some of which
are 50 terrible to man, and even to
beasts of tho woods, from their vcnc
NOUS bite, their ficrco temper, and vo-
raclty, that thoir path is freely aban-
doncd to them The most rsmarka-
bic and most dreaded of all is the
Bashikonay. Bashikonay is the name
given by the Bakalai. There are
two other varieties of Bashikonay
besides tho black kind
These black Bashikonay may be
well called the lords of the forest. 1t
Is tho most voracious creature ever
met. 1t is the dread Of all living
animals, from tho leopard to tho
smallest insects. 1t is their habit to
march through the forests in q long,
regular line, Il line about two inches
broad, and often several miles in
length all along this line arc larger
ants, who act as oillccrs-stand out
side the ranks and keep this singular
army i'll order, If they come to Il
place whore there arc no trees to shell
ter them from tho sun, whose heat
they cannot bear, they Immediately
build an underground tunnel through
which tho whole army pass in columns
to tho forest beyond When they
grow hungry, as by sudden com
mand, the long file spread itself
through the forest, advancing for
ward, attacking and dovouring all liv-
ing things with fury that is quite
irresistible.
The elephant and The gorilla fly be-
fore them the black mon run away :;
every animal that lives in their line
OF march is chased. In an Incredibly
short space of time those that arc
caught arc overwhelmed, killed,
eaten, and only the bare skeleton re-
mains. They seem to travel day and
night. Many u time have been
awakened out Of sleep and obliged to
rush into the water to save myself
from them. When they enter house
they clear it Of every living thing.
Cookroachcs arc dcyourcd in an in
slant ;rats and mice spring around the
room i'll vain. They will not touch
vegetable matter, thus they arc very
useful, clearing the country of many
insects When Oh their march the in.
sect world flies before them, and !
have often had the approach of a
Bashillonay army hcraldcl to me by
this means.
Wherever they 60 they make a
clean sweep, even ascending to the top
of trees ill pursuit of their prey.
Their manner Of attack is an impotu-
Gus leap, Instantly the strong pincers
arc fastened, and they only let 90
whcn inc piece gives away. AZ such
time this little insect seems animat-
cd BY kind Of fury which causes it to
disregard entirely its own safety.
Tho negroes relate that criminals,
by which they generally mean wiz
ards, have sometimes been exposed on
the path Of the Bashikonay ants, tied
to a tree so they might not escape,
and then were devourcd to the bones.
They are larger than ants we have in
America. The number of ono of their
armies is so great that one does not
like to enter into calculations, but 1
have seen u continuous line passing at
a good speed Il particular place for
twelve hours. So you may imagine
how many millions there may have
been.