New-York tribune., 1889-12-22
SOME PLEASURES ri OF LIFE IN THE
Tropics.
r Ruckland in Longmon's Magazine.

&. T. Bucldand in Longmon's Magazine.
am not sure if the Indian ants are identicSi WIN
those which the subjects OF Nir Johh Lunoooh i
caIcutfa hi, acGnniniancc with the small red ants
begins. shall never forget the Jump INA aIat G q
friend gave when he first train OF RED ants on
the floor He was a stout Engii,hman. newly arllHeu
from home and with an innate horror OF insect lie s;
lie thnught the train Of ants was q snake Ihel "elc
merely maraudmg party out on an eSpelitloll& 40 40
plunder the basin on the breakfast taoie; sone
active ant scout had discovered that one emu vi le
tabecloth touched the ground. and so afforded pa7-
sage to the sugar the breakfast table; lhsuanus
the expedition had been ORGANIZED ana there "s @ q
continuous stream Of ants from the hole III inc wal
where they dwclt, along the floor up the taoecloth
on TO the sugar basin. with SldeOodru III "huI
ANYTHING kept IT is usual to put brass sceis
full OF under the feet so as to keep INC any =
out. The water must be constantly chauSeu ipr !, -
etS covered with dust any debris that VIII carH
the weight Of an ant. The little creatures soon ma IL
have the feet of your bed planted in brass saucers
full Of water so as TO prevent the anus geatns up
into the bed was acquainted WIN ans mns ,nn Tno
suffered severely from neglecting this prcean,oli
The doctor mad given her some ointment 10 , tuO OF
when She went to bed. During the night she suffered
considerable psn, which she attributed TO 'ne w9rs
of the ointment. When daylight came great wac
her horror TO find that she was being eaten ave oy
q swarm Of red ants, which had been stracted ca. oy
some sweet ingredient In the ointment ana had Dlt.e
through her skin into her flesh, SO that she carried
the scars of the wounds 70 her grave No doubt the
rheumatic pain was cured but the remedy VIZ
rood deal worse than the disease The large red ants
Similar TO those described In The Queens scotch Jour
nal AZ attacking Royal princess, are usually met
With ont sho0ting. As you passing under a tree
in yonr howdah the elephant puts up his tr1ink at
The bidding Of the mahoat 10 Drcah on sumo ProIcos
branch aud in instant yon find yourself covered covered
,iIh .. shower of red ants who have been plcmchins
ON that particular branch. The rapidly WIN whcn
iber will stiaca you your face and hands, get
down the back OF your neck ana up your les9, as ;,
more easily imae eined than described ana You, VIII
have q very unpleasant quarter OF an hour uhtl you
can get rid of them all .., a., ,, ,.,,, ,,.
had not many encounters with the large black ants
vyhirh affect a rather dTer climate thnh that OF Cal
cnta But in house where there is colony of i1rs1
black ants established no place Is safe ilonl telv
raXpeS and their bite l. quite as savage ana pinii
AZ that az the large red ants The White ants PROB
.hly rake The cake" according 70 modern phrase
o"Sy ss the greatest nui,ances OF their hind. y
white ant has several form, but perhaps his most
dangerous form is that in which he Is more Ike
Whit. rlaggot than ordinary ant In tllS maggct
forn the White ants work under cover OF tunnellrg
of @oft mud e hcn they Manufacture for themselves.
uo,sibv with the intention oi c0ncea1ng their MS
chief But the tunnel fortunately betIays thcin and
no time should be lost in breaking open the tunnel
and DESTROYING the working party tlat VIII he font
inside If an uwary traveller. arriving late at night.
leave. his portmanteau the hoo Of his room In the
vcinitv Of white ants. he will probably discover In
the morning that the enemy have found their way In
and made havoc of hi garments. They VIII carry
at the contents of a drawer Nothing - sacred 70
them In the public Ofices of Government the white
ami i ready to make himsst record keeper. He gets
In.o bundle Of papers and eats them. III reference
is needed TO some old paper the clerk who To- the
bundle finds that it has been received into mass Of
muddy pulp 7 knew case where they ate soma
bank note, In native merchants chest hut luckily
for him the fragments identifeble. More than
have destroyed many precious sheets OF the stamps
manufactured bv McsSTs. De IA Rue Co., which
were in the store OF the district collector. A. the
collector Is held personally responsible for the vaiue
his stamp chests. or almirahs, may be easily con
ceived.