The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1896-09-01
THE WARRIOR ANTS.

they Attack Every Living Creature In
Their Path When On the March.
1t was in HoHluras, near the Caribbean
:oast, while on a government survey, that
first saw the warrior ants-those strange
Insects which march through the tropical
forests in armies, attacking every living
creature in their path. One intensely hot
day as / sat in a hammock under the
matched roof of my bamboo hut native
came running in, and with excited ges
lures babe me follow him. did so won.
1eringly, and going out into the open
looked in the direction he Indicated
There on the rolling savanna stretched a
wide black belt extending far back into the
deep shadows of the adjacent forest. 1t
rose and fell with every formation of the
ground, and like huge snake slowly
crept toward the village. THE warrior
ants" explained the native in strange
patois of English and Spanish which !
shall not attempt to initiate. "They will
soon be here" he continued you had
better unite your dogs or the ants will kill
them" Acting upon his advice l loosed
my dogs, and retiring to safe distance
watched the approach of the warriors. In
countless multitudes they swarmed over
the plain, marching in compact order, like
well drilled army. Before them sour
ried heterogeneous mass of lizards, grass.
hoppers, frogs, beetles and other manner OF
insects and reptiles, in wild scamper to
reach place of safety.
Presently the advance guard reached my
hut and disappeared within; then the main
column appeared, and soon the roof, floor,
walls and rafters were black with them.
Like the soft rustic of dried grass stirred
by gentle breeze came the sound of their
presence in the leaves of my matched roof
The sounds increased in loudness as the
rats, mice, lizards, cockroaches, centipeds
and others of their ilk who had long made
the roof their home tried vainly to escape
Some succeeded in getting away from the
house, but only to fall victims to the sur
rounding hordes without. One large cock
roach, / noticed, made plucky fight, but
overpowered by numbers he gradually re
Taxed his efforts and was soon dismembered
each ant carrying off a portion of his body
as trophy.
The most exciting battle was with q
snake about feet long that tried to sliI
away unseen. The ants quickly surround
ed him, however, and fought with terrible
ferocity. With every switch of his tail the
snake killed a score of his tormentors, but
| IHelT pluCeS WeTe SOOl Hllcu ny Uuc DldCh
swarm which swept increasingly on. Final
ly the writings of the snake became
fainter and fainter and at last ceased en-
tirely, and then, and not until then, die
the ants relinquish their attack. All day
long they marched through the house un
til at shutdown the end of the column haC
passed and was lost to view in the thick
ness of the forest.
entered the house and prepared to sur
vey ruefully my larder, but my anticipa
tons of sorrow were premature, for there
were all my provisions as l had left them
untouched. There was but one exception
"a poor turtle which l had tied to a stalk
that morning, intending to keep him aliv,
for a few days before making him int
soup. He was stone dead, but the rumpleC
earth about him showed that he had mad,
hard fight for life. Not a dead ant wa
to be seen; they had all been carried off b!
their comrades. l afterward learned tina
the warrior ants refuse to touch any foot
that they themselves have not caught anC
slain, which accounted for my provision
remaining unmolested-Omaha World
Herald.