292 DICK SANDS, THE BOY CAPTÀÎN. thc tiers of cclls wcre nowhere Icss than a foot thick throughout Thcsc wondcrfiil érections, thc resuit of the combîncd labour of înnumcrable însccts, are by no mcans uncommon in the heart of Africa. Smeathman, a Dutch travellcr of the last century, has recordcd hovv he and four companions ail at one time occupîed the summit of one of thcm in Loundé. Lîvîngstone notîced some made of red clay, of whîch the height varied from fiftcen to twenty feet ; and in Nyangwc, Cameron several tîmes mistook one of thèse colonies for a native camp pitched upon the plain. Hc describcd some of thèse st range édifices as being flankcd with small spires, givîng them the appcarance of a cathedral- dôme. The rcddish clay of whîch the ant-hill was composed could Icavc no doubt upon the mind of a naturalist that it had becn formed by thc spccics known as " termes belli- cosus ;" had it becn made of grcy or black alluvial soil, it might hâve been attributcd to thc " termes mordax '* or " termes atrox,*' formidable namcs that must awaken anything but plcasure in thc minds of ail but enthusiast cntomologists. In thc centre was an opcn spacc, surrounded by roomy compartmcnts, rangcd one upon anothcr, like the bcrths of a ship's cabin, and lincd with the millions of cclls that had been occupîed by thc ants. This central space was in- adéquate to hold thc w'hole party that had now^ made their hurricd resort to it, but as cach of the compartmcnts was sufficicntly capacious to admit one person to occupy it in a sittîng posture, Mrs. Weldon, Jack, Nan, and Cousin Benedict wcre exaltcd to the uppcr tier, Austîn, Bat, and Actcxon occupîed the next story, whilst Tom and Her- cules, and Dick Sands himself remained bclow. Dick soon found that the soil bencath his feet was begîn- nîng to gct damp, and insisted upon having some of the dry clay spread over it from thc base of the conc. " It is a long timc,'* he said, " since we hâve slept with a roof over our hcads ; and I am anxious to makc our refuge as sccurc as possbc. It. rcv«3Lvie îcv^.>^^ ^V^^ll hâve to
