“Well, Uncle Thomas, that is very curious; I don’t know which most to admire.  I rather incline to the beaver however, because of the winter store of food which he lays up.”

“There is another animal which displays the building instinct so remarkably, that I must tell you something about it before we part.”

“Which is it, Uncle Thomas?”

“It is the white ant of Africa; it is a little animal, scarcely, if at all, exceeding in size those of our own country, yet they construct large nests of a conical or sugar loaf shape, sometimes from ten to twelve feet in height; and one species builds them so strong and compact, that even when they are raised to little more than half their height, the wild-bulls of the country use them as sentinel posts to watch over the safety of the herd which grazes below.

“Mr. Smeathman, a naturalist fully capable to do justice to the nature of these erections, states, that on one occasion he and four men stood on the top of one of them.  So you may guess how strong they are.”

“Of what are they made, Uncle Thomas?  They must be very curious structures.  How very different from the ant hills of England!”

“Very different, indeed, John.  They are made of clay and sand, and as in such a luxuriant climate they soon become coated over with grass, they quickly assume the appearance of hay-cocks.  They are indeed very remarkable structures, whether we consider them externally or internally, and are said to excel those of the beaver and the bee in the same proportion as the inhabitants of the most polished European nation excel the huts of the rude inhabitants of the country where the Termites or white ants abound; while in regard to mere size, Mr. Smeathman calculates that, supposing a man’s ordinary height to be six feet, the nests of these creatures may be considered, relative to their size and that of man’s, as being raised to four times the height of the largest Egyptian pyramids.”

“That is enormous, Uncle Thomas?”

“It is indeed, Frank; but strange though it is, the interior of the nest is even more remarkable, many parts of its construction falling little short of human ingenuity.  I need not attempt to describe all its arrangements, which, without a plan, would be nearly unintelligible; but there is one device so admirable that I must point it out to you.  The nest is formed of two floors, as it were, and all round the walls are galleries perforated in various winding directions, and leading to the store-houses of the colony, or to the nurseries where the eggs are deposited.  As it is sometimes convenient to reach the galleries which open from the upper roof without threading all the intricacies of these winding passages, they construct bridges of a single arch, and thus at once reach the upper roof, from which these diverge.  They are thus also saved much labour, in transporting provisions, and in bearing the eggs to the places where they remain till they are hatched.”