The Portland daily press., 1898-04-28
ANTS TO BEWARE OF.
Foes 1hat an Army in Cuba Would
Have to Encounter.

W encounter.
with Hot stings That
Attack Everything and Evervbodv
Within Reach-The Soldier Ants That
Tut Men to Flight-An Exner;encs
With Fire Ants.
eff an American army goes to c,bo lot
it look out Tor the ants, says G. Rafael
ORellly, snake expert. "They have tbe
same ants in Cuba that bother in otbe,.
torpical countries. All who have lived
an outdoor life in these regions will aoree
with me that the greatest trouble con,os
not from the heat, not from sickness nor
ferocious beasts, but from insects Tar
antulas and scorpions, are not often mat
with, mosquitoes are not worse than in
some Northern lands, but the ants arc
everywhere a constant worriment and
most of them sting and bite fiercely. In
Columbia, Venezuela and most of the
West Indian Islands all provisions such
as meat, butter, sugar, bread, mnst be
kept in well-closed box of wire gauze
to preserve them from the ants. Nor is
it enough to inclose the eatables IA the
box. The box must be suspended from
the ceiling of the pantry by single wire.
Even this is not always sufficient pro-
lection, Tor have known the sugar ants
to make their way down the suspending
wire and be found in the morning drown.
ing by scores in the condensed milk and
making the white sugar look brown with
their numbers. They get into loayes of
bread and bore their way from one cavity
to another until every airbubble in each
loaf has its ant OF. ants, and the bread has
to be thrown into boiling water and fed
to the dogs and fowls. l have often seen
one loaf occupied by more than a thou.
sand ants. On all my hunting trips in
Venezuela and Colombia the ants were
my chief annoyance. The trouble caused
by them was oftentimes almost past en-.
durance.
ION one occasion in Venezuela I went
out to camp for a week in the woods near
Palma Sofa, between Arroa and Tucacas.
We had four hammocks to accommodate
me and the three Venezuelans who ac-
companied me, and we swung them one
afternoon in pleasant spot near a
stream, where dourishing palm trees
shaded the Undiscovered water, We were
in the hope of seeing an anaconda on the
banks, and after our midday meal we
piled up our belongings and tumbled
into the hammocks to watch for one of
these great snakes about the water s
edge. After time we grew thirsty, and
not caring to drink the river water
arose to make some coffee. When it was
done I went to get sugar and condensed
milk where we had piled our things by a
tree root. The milk can had been opened
carelessly and not closed properly, and
the sugar canister's cover did not fit
tightly, and the result was that found
both swarming with sugar ants, tiny,
yellowisb, slow-moving creatures, about
sixteenth of an inch in length. l had
to throw away many spoonfuls of milk
and nearly one-third of sugar. But this
was small trouble compared with what
happened an hour later.
"Lounging in a hammock induces
drowsiness, especially in warm climate.
My three companions had fallen aslsep.
while was watching too eagerly for an
anaconda to notice anything else Sud
denly out Of the stiffness there came a
piercing yell OF shrek from one of the
sleepers. Thinking an anaconda had
seized him, for we were all thinking of
anacondas, we sprang out upon our feet,
and without any of us uttering single
word. we all took to our heels through
the woods. After going about hundred
yards we stopped and began frantically
beating Off the large soldier ants that
were climbing up our legs. The fact was
that the Notwithstanding or soldier
ants, called in Cuba hormigas bravas-
had come on their march to our camping
place, and having run up the tree trunk
from which our hammocks were slung,
were beginning to get at US by climbing
along the hammock ropes. On returnin g
to the place where our hammocks were
yet swinging, we had to halt forty yards
of, for the whole forest floor was covered
as far as we could see with myriads of
fierce insects. We watched them search
ing under and over every fallen leaf, in
every hole, around and beneath rocks and
decaying logs, up 1.-THE tree trunks and
over every Dranch OF the brushWoud, DIS
they passed. No living thing escaped
them; spiders, tarantulas, scorpions, cen
tipedes, baby mice and young birds in
the nest they destroyed as they found
them, while snakes. squirrels, lizards, ar
madillos. and all other creatures that had
strength and agility fled before their ad-
vsnce. 1t was three hours before we
could get back to our hammocks.
My friend, Albert Carr of Caparo. in
the island of Trinidad, told ME of a SINH.
lar adventure he had with these same
ants. He and his family were in their
house when the cazadores came, and the
whole family had to clear out and let the
ants work their will. For three or four
hours the inmates had to camp out.
When they went back they found that
their invaders had done little harm and
much good, for they had not left a rat
mouse. snake, spider, cockroach, or other
creature living behind them. These ants
are OF a dark chocolate brown, of large
size, with great powerfully jawed heads
They march in immene armies through
the forest, and when one has to cross
their line of march he must pick up his
feet quickly, else they Will get upon his
legs and make him pay dearly for slug-
gishness. If you walk few miles in the
forest you are almost sure to come across
them. l have never yet, especially in
Trinidad Or VappzUolo oona hIIptir, fox