Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-05-20
COLUMBUS, O., MONDAY MORNING,


t0rial forests there are found a vast number
of ants, some of which are so terrible to
man, and even beast, by reason of their
venomous bite, their fierce temper and
their voracity, that their path is freely
abandoned to them without any one being
the first to commence hostilities. The kind
of ant that is the most dreaded is the black
basiikouay, as the Bakalai natives call it.
There are two other specimens OF the bash
ikouay besides the black kind, but they are
not so much dreaded. This insect may
well be called the lord of the forest. 1t Isl
the most voraeious creature ever met, and
is the dread of all living animals, from the
gorilla and leopard down to the smallest
insect It Is their habit to march through
the forest in a long regular line-a line two
inches broad and several miles inlength.-
All along this line are larger ants, which
act apparently as officers, standing outside
their ranks an1 keeping their struggling
army in proper array. If they come to a
place where there are no trees to shelter
them from the sun, whose heat they can
not bear, they Immediately set about build
ing an underground tunnel, through which
the whole army of ants pass on in columns
to the shade of the forest beyond. When
they grow hungry, as If by sudden COM
mand, the long line spreads itself through
the forest, advancing forward and attack
ing and devouring everything animate and
inanimate that comes across their path,
with fury which is quite irresistable.-
The elephant and gorilla fly before them,
the black men run away-every animal
that lives in their line of march is chased,
and in an Incredible short space of time
those that are caught are killed, eaten, and
their bare and polished skeletons left be-
hind. These ants seem to travel along
both night and day. Many time have /
been awakened out ofsleep,and been obliged
to rush into the water to save myself from
their greedy clutches. When they enter a
house they clear it of every living thing !;
cockroaches are devoured in an instant !;
rats and mice spring around the rooms en-
deavoring to escape in vain. They will not
touch vegetable matter, however, and are
consequently very useful in clearing the
country of obnoxious and unpleasant in
sects. When on their march all insects flee
before them, and l have often had the APP
proach of bashikouay army heralded to me
by this means. Wherever they go they
make a clean sweep, even ascending to the
tops of trees and houses in pursuit of
their prey. Their mode of attack is
an impetuous leap; instantly their strong,
pincer-like arms are fastened into persons
, clothes, and they never let go until they
( have detached a morsel of animal food. At
, such a time this little insect seems animat-
ed with kind of fury which causes it to
wholly disregard its own safety. The. ne
mean wiZards) have sometimes been eX-
posed to the path of the bashikouay. tied
to tree so that they cannot escape. and
81 have been thus devoured. The bashikouay
q is larger than any variety of the ant we
Z have in America. The number of the ar
mics is so great that one does not like to
ID enter into calculation for fear of exag-
geration, but l have really seen continu-
ious line of them passing a certain spot in
their march, going at a fair rate of speed,
for twelve successive hours. So you may
imagine how many millions there may
have been of them. Besides the study OF
natural history, carefully studied the hab-
its of the natives with whom l came in
contact aud association. What struck me
first was the scantiness of the population
and the great number of tribes speaking
different dialects and tongues. Tribes bear.
ing different name consider themselves al
altogether separate nation. although speak
. ing perhaps the same identical tongue. All
the tribes were divided into distinct clans
each clan Independent of the other, anC
b often at war with ene another. North o
, the equator almost all the tribes are ex
IL -ceedingly warlike, especially those that arr
cannibals, who, besides being naturally
brave, are the most beautiful iron workers
/ have ever seen. South of the equator tn,
tribes are of peaceful character usually
They have a sort of rude loom, with which
they weave an elegant species of clotl
out of the libres of the palm tree
The villages of these tribes wer
very clean; tobacco was also yer,
plentiful, as also the canni6is indi
cas-, or wild hemp. In the midst OF thes
tribes, south of the equator, l discovered
race of men of small stature whose averag
height did not exceed four feet three inch
es to four feet six inches. The forms c
government of all the various tribes wer
strikingly similar, whether they were man
eaters or not. / was particularly struc
by the mild demeanor generally of tn
chiefs, who seemed more like fathers of tn
various tribes than their rulers. KILN
by accident is not understood, but the striC
Mosaic law, san eye for an eye and toot
for TOOTH" is held to in all its exactness
| and council of elders is necessary befor
any one is put to death. Questioning th
people about the past, found that the yes
which every memory was buried. The
had no record of it, and did not care, an
even seemed surprised when L wished I
know of their annals. Each village had i
chief, hence kings never obtain undivide
power over large tracts of country. III
house of chief or elder is not better in an
respect than that of his neighbor, and Il
despotic form of government is entire
unknown. Polygamy, slavery and witcl
craft are found wherever have penetrate
i In this great forest and in the mounta
| =recesses man is what we may call primtiv
i No trading caravan, from the East or fro
the West, from the North or from tt
South, has come to him; no .whi
man has been in his midst, no - Fl
watern has reached him: he is shut o.
from the world around him, and has be
left to the devices of his own untutOr
f heart. The few individuals who leave t
/ Interior country for the seashore nev
} come, back to tell their old tribe of the VIII
man and the outer world; the path
closed; there is gulf between the sc
: shore and the interior, but not between
interior and the sea. The religion of {
! prophet Mahomet has been unable to ma
headway against the impenetrable for
2 and its savage inhabitants-all is prlmiti
2 nature, where civilization is undreamed
and the white man and commerce are as
strangers. Now let me describe to you
cemetery. A curious sight is the OroGng
burying ground. which visited. 1t is S
e uated near Fetch Point, aud in a grove
}, noble trees, many of them of magnitict
D size and shape. The natives hold this pl;
} in great reverence and refused at first to
/, with me on my contemplated visit, and
e was only by the promise OF large rews
r that / at last prevailed upon Mamhala, W
e b was one OF the men the king had given
), to accompany me. The negroes visit
: place only on funeral occasions and hold
d in the greatest awe, believing that the ST
Il its of the dead wander about, and that tt
g are not lightly to be disturbed. Treasu
e of any amount or value may be left b
= in perfect safety. The grove stal
n by the seashOre; it is entirely Gle
n ed of underbrush, and the bre
! sighs through the dense foliage of
= trees and whispers in the darkened gloo
/ grove, it is an awful place even to an
n impressible white man. Mamhala stood
e silence by the strand while L entered
l. domains of the Oroungon dead. 7
r, bodies are not placed below the surface
d the earth, but lie about beneath the trees
el huge coffins, some of which. by their n
"a lOnlrc raoont arrivals hut hu