Happily, the walls of the ant-hill were very thick; no beaver-hut formed of pounded earth could be more perfectly11 water-tight, and a torrent9 might have passed over it without a particle of moisture making its way through its substance.
As soon as the party had taken possession of the tenement12, a lantern was lighted, and they proceeded to examine the interior. The cone13, which was about twelve feet high inside, was eleven feet wide at the base, gradually narrowing to a sugar-loaf top. The walls and partitions between the tiers of cells were nowhere less than a foot thick throughout.
These wonderful erections, the result of the combined labour of innumerable insects, are by no means uncommon14 in the heart of Africa. Smeathman, a Dutch traveller of the last century, has recorded how he and four companions all at one time occupied the summit of one of them in Loundé. Livingstone noticed some made of red clay, of which the height varied15 from fifteen to twenty feet; and in Nyangwé, Cameron several times mistook one of these colonies for a native camp pitched upon the plain. He described some of these strange edifices16 as being flanked with small spires17, giving them the appearance of a cathedral-dome.
The reddish clay of which the ant-hill was composed could leave no doubt upon the mind of a naturalist18 that it had been formed by the species known as "termes bellicosus;" had it been made of grey or black alluvial19 soil, it might have been attributed to the "termes mordax" or "termes atrox," formidable names that must awaken20 anything but pleasure in the minds of all but enthusiast21 entomologists.
In the centre was an open space, surrounded by roomy compartments22, ranged one upon another, like the berths23 of a ship's cabin, and lined with the millions of cells that had been occupied by the ants. This central space was inadequate24 to hold the whole party that had now made their hurried resort to it, but as each of the compartments was sufficiently25 capacious to admit one person to occupy it in a sitting posture26, Mrs. Weldon, Jack27, Nan, and Cousin Benedict were exalted28 to the upper tier, Austin, Bat, and Actæon occupied the next story, whilst Tom and Hercules, and Dick Sands himself remained below.
Dick soon found that the soil beneath his feet was beginning to get damp, and insisted upon having some of the dry clay spread over it from the base of the cone.
"It is a long time," he said, "since we have slept with a roof over our heads; and I am anxious to make our refuge as secure as possible. It may be that we shall have to
stay here for a whole day or more; on the first opportunity I shall go and explore; it may turn out that we are near the stream we are seeking; and perhaps we shall have to build a raft before we start again."
Under his direction, therefore, Hercules took his hatchet30, and proceeded to break down the lowest range of cells and to spread the dry, brittle31 clay of which they were composed a good foot thick over the damp floor, taking care not in any way to block up the aperture32 by which the fresh air penetrated33 into the interior.
It was indeed fortunate that the termites34 had abandoned their home; had it swarmed35 with its multitudes of voracious36 Neuroptera, the ant-hill would have been utterly37 untenable for human beings. Cousin Benedict's curiosity was awakened, and he was intensely interested in the question of the evacuation, so that he proceeded at once to investigate, if he could, whether the emigration had been recent or otherwise. He took the lantern, and as the result of his scrutiny38 he soon discovered in a recess39 what he described as the termites' "storehouse," or the place where the indefatigable40 insects keep their provisions. It was a large cavity, not far from the royal cell, which, together with the cells for the reception of the young larvae41, had been destroyed by Hercules in the course of his flooring operations. Out of this receptacle Benedict drew a considerable quantity of gum and vegetable juices, all in a state so liquid as to demonstrate that they had been deposited there quite recently.
"They have only just gone," he exclaimed, with an air of authority, as if he imagined that some one was about to challenge his assertion.
"We are not going to dispute your word, Mr. Benedict," said Dick; "here we are; we have taken their place, and shall be quite content for them to keep out of the way, without caring when they went, or where they have gone."
"But we must care," retorted Benedict testily42; "why they have gone concerns us a good deal; these juices make it evident, from the liquid state in which we find them, that the ants were here this morning, they have not only gone, but they have carried off their young larvae with them; they have been sagacious enough to take warning of some impending43 danger."
"Perhaps they heard that we were coming," said Hercules, laughing.
"Yes, I say," repeated Hercules, "perhaps they heard that we were coming."
"Pshaw!" said Benedict contemptuously; "do you imagine they would be afraid of you? they would reduce your carcase to a skeleton in no time, if they found it across their path."
"No doubt, if I were dead," replied Hercules, "they could pick my bones pretty clean; but while I had the use of my limbs I think I could crush them by thousands."
"Thousands!" ejaculated Benedict, with increasing warmth; "you think you could demolish46 thousands; but what if they were hundreds of thousands, millions, hundreds of millions? Alive as much as dead, I tell you, they wouldn't be long in consuming every morsel47 of you."
During this brisk little discussion Dick Sands had been pondering over what Benedict had said. There was no doubt that the amateur naturalist was well acquainted with the habits of white ants, and if, as he affirmed, the insects had instinctively48 quitted their abode49 on account of some approaching danger, Dick asked himself whether it was safe or prudent50 for his party to remain. But the fury of the storm was still so great that all possibility of removing from the shelter seemed precluded51 for the present, and, without inquiring farther into the mystery, he merely said,
"Although the ants, Mr. Benedict, have left us their provisions, we must not forget that we have brought our own. We will have our supper now, and to-morrow, when the storm is over, we will see what is to be done."
Fatigue52 had not taken away the appetite of the energetic travellers, and they gladly set about the preparation of their meal. The provisions, of which they had enough for
[Illustration: The naturalist now fairly mounted on a favourite hobby.]
another two days, had not been injured by the rain. For some minutes the crunching53 of hard biscuit was the only sound to be heard; Hercules, in particular, seemed to pound away with his huge jaws54 as with a pair of millstones.
Mrs. Weldon was the only one of the party who ate little; and that little was only taken at Dick's earnest solicitation55; he could not help noticing, with much concern, that although Jack seemed to be satisfactorily recovering, and, without sign of fever, was sleeping calmly enough on a bed made up of clothes spread out in one of the cells, yet his mother had lost much of her courage, and seemed preoccupied56 and depressed57.
Cousin Benedict did due honour to the simple evening repast; not on account of its quantity or quality, but because it gave him an opportunity of holding forth58 upon the subject of termites. He was much vexed59 that he had been unable to discover a single specimen60 in the deserted61 anthill with which he might illustrate62 his lecture, but notwithstanding this deficiency he continued to talk, heedless whether any one was listening.
"They are wonderful insects," he said; "they belong to the order of the Neuroptera, which have the antennae63 longer than the head; their mandibles are well-developed, and the inferior pair of wings is generally as large as the superior. There are five families of them; the Panorpide, the Myrmellonide, the Hemerobiide, the Termitine, and the Perlide. I need hardly say that what we are now occupying is a dwelling64 of the Termitine."
At this point Dick became all attention; he was anxious to ascertain65 whether this discovery of white ants had aroused any suspicion in Benedict's mind that they must be on African soil. The naturalist, now fairly mounted on a favourite hobby, went on with his discourse66.
"I am sorry not to have a specimen to show you, but these Termitine have four joints67 in the tarsi, and strong horny mandibles. The family includes, as genera, the Mantispa, the Raphidia, and the Termes, the last commonly known as white ants, amongst which are 'Termes fatalis, Termes lucifugans, Termes mordax,' and several others more or less rare."
"And which of them built this ant-hill?" inquired Dick.
"The bellicosi!" replied Benedict, pronouncing the name with as much pride as if he were eulogizing the Macedonians or some warlike nation of antiquity68. "Bellicosi," he continued, "are to be found of every size. There is as much difference between the largest and the smallest of them as there is between Hercules and a dwarf69; the workers are about one-fifth of an inch long; the soldiers, or fighting-ants, are half an inch; whilst the males and females measure four fifths of an inch. There is another curious species, called 'sirafoos,' which are about half an inch long, and have pincers instead of mandibles, and heads larger than their bodies, like sharks. In fact, if sharks and sirafoos were placed in competition, I should be inclined to back the sharks."
"And where are these sirafoos most generally to be found?" said Dick cautiously.
"In Africa, in the southern and central provinces. Africa may truly be termed the land of ants. Livingstone, in the notes brought home by Stanley, describes a battle which he was fortunate enough to witness between an army of black ants and an army of red. The black ants, or drivers, which are what the natives call sirafoos, got the best of it; and the red ants, or 'tchoongoos,' after a very resolute70 defence, were obliged to retire defeated, carrying their eggs and young ones with them. Livingstone avows71 that he never saw the warlike instinct so strongly developed as in these sirafoos; the stoutest72 man, the largest animal, a lion or an elephant, quails73 before the grip of their mandibles: no obstacle impedes74 their progress; no tree is too lofty for them to scale, and they contrive75 to cross wide streams by forming their own bodies into a kind of suspension bridge. Equally amazing are their numbers; Du Chaillu, another African traveller, relates how it took more than twelve hours for a column of ants to file pass him, without a moment's pause in their march. These numbers, however cease to be so surprising when it is explained that their fecundity76 is such that a single female of the termites bellicosi has been estimated to produce as many as sixty thousand eggs a day. These Neuroptera furnish the natives with a favourite food, grilled77 ants being considered a great delicacy78."
"Have you ever tasted them?" asked Hercules, with a grin.
"Never," answered the naturalist; "but I am in hopes I shall have a chance of doing so very soon."
"Surely you don't imagine yourself in Africa!" said Tom suddenly.
"Africa! no; why should I?" replied Benedict; "but, as I have already seen a tzetsy in America, I do not despair of having the satisfaction of discovering white ants there too. You do not know the sensation I shall make in Europe when I publish my folio volume and its illustrations."
It was evident that no inkling of the truth had yet entered poor Benedict's brain, and it seemed likely that it would require demonstration79 far more striking than any natural phenomena80 to undeceive the minds of such of the party as were not already in possession of the fatal secret.
Although it was nine o'clock, Cousin Benedict went on talking incessantly81, regardless of the fact that one by one his audience were falling to sleep in their separate cells. Dick Sands did not sleep, but neither did he interrupt the entomologist by farther questions; Hercules kept up his attention longer than the rest, but at length he too succumbed82 to weariness, and his eyes and ears were closed to all external sights and sounds.
But endurance has limits, and at last Cousin Benedict, having worn himself out, clambered up to the topmost cell of the cone, which he had chosen for his dormitory, and fell into a peaceful slumber83.
The lantern had been already extinguished. All was darkness and silence within, whilst the storm without still raged with a violence that gave no sign of abatement84.
Dick Sands himself was the only one of the party who was not partaking in the repose85 that was so indispensable to them all; but he could not sleep; his every thought was absorbed in the responsibility that rested on him to rescue those under his charge from the dangers that threatened them. Again and again he recalled every incident that had occurred since the loss of Captain Hull86 and his crew; he remembered the occasion when he had stood with his pistol pointed87 at Negoro's head; why, oh why, had his hand faltered88 then? why had he not at that moment hurled89 the miserable90 wretch91 overboard, and thus relieved himself and his partners in trouble from the catastrophe92 that had since befallen them? Peril93 was still staring them in the face, and his sole drop of consolation94 in the bitter cup of despondency was that Mrs. Weldon was still ignorant of their real situation.
At that moment, just in the fever of his agony, he felt a light breath upon his forehead; a hand was laid upon his shoulder, and a gentle voice murmured in his ear,-
"My poor boy, I know everything. God will help us! His will be done!"
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1
temperate
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| adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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3
cataract
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| n.大瀑布，奔流，洪水，白内障 | |
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4
latitudes
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| 纬度 | |
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5
inverse
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| adj.相反的，倒转的，反转的；n.相反之物；v.倒转 | |
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6
furrowing
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| v.犁田，开沟( furrow的现在分词 ) | |
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7
brooks
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| n.小溪( brook的名词复数 ) | |
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8
torrents
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| n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断 | |
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9
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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10
overflow
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| v.(使)外溢，(使)溢出；溢出，流出，漫出 | |
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11
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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12
tenement
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| n.公寓；房屋 | |
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13
cone
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| n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果 | |
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14
uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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15
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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edifices
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| n.大建筑物( edifice的名词复数 ) | |
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17
spires
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| n.（教堂的） 塔尖，尖顶( spire的名词复数 ) | |
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18
naturalist
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| n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者) | |
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19
alluvial
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| adj.冲积的；淤积的 | |
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awaken
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| vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起 | |
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21
enthusiast
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| n.热心人，热衷者 | |
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22
compartments
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| n.间隔( compartment的名词复数 )；（列车车厢的）隔间；（家具或设备等的）分隔间；隔层 | |
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23
berths
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| n.（船、列车等的）卧铺( berth的名词复数 )；（船舶的）停泊位或锚位；差事；船台vt.v.停泊( berth的第三人称单数 )；占铺位 | |
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24
inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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26
posture
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| n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势 | |
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27
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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28
exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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29
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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30
hatchet
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| n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀 | |
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31
brittle
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| adj.易碎的；脆弱的；冷淡的；(声音)尖利的 | |
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32
aperture
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| n.孔，隙，窄的缺口 | |
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33
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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34
termites
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| n.白蚁( termite的名词复数 ) | |
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35
swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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36
voracious
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| adj.狼吞虎咽的，贪婪的 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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recess
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| n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处） | |
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40
indefatigable
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| adj.不知疲倦的，不屈不挠的 | |
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41
larvae
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| n.幼虫 | |
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42
testily
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| adv. 易怒地, 暴躁地 | |
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43
impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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44
withering
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| 使人畏缩的，使人害羞的，使人难堪的 | |
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45
deigned
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| v.屈尊，俯就( deign的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46
demolish
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| v.拆毁(建筑物等)，推翻(计划、制度等) | |
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47
morsel
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| n.一口，一点点 | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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49
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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50
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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51
precluded
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| v.阻止( preclude的过去式和过去分词 )；排除；妨碍；使…行不通 | |
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52
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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53
crunching
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| v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的现在分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄 | |
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54
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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55
solicitation
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| n.诱惑；揽货；恳切地要求；游说 | |
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56
preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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57
depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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58
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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59
vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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60
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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61
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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62
illustrate
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| v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图 | |
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63
antennae
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| n.天线；触角 | |
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64
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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65
ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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66
discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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67
joints
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| 接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语） | |
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68
antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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69
dwarf
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| n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小 | |
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70
resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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71
avows
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| v.公开声明，承认( avow的第三人称单数 ) | |
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72
stoutest
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| 粗壮的( stout的最高级 )； 结实的； 坚固的； 坚定的 | |
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73
quails
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| 鹌鹑( quail的名词复数 )； 鹌鹑肉 | |
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74
impedes
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| 阻碍，妨碍，阻止( impede的第三人称单数 ) | |
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75
contrive
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| vt.谋划，策划；设法做到；设计，想出 | |
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76
fecundity
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| n.生产力；丰富 | |
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77
grilled
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| adj. 烤的, 炙过的, 有格子的 动词grill的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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80
phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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81
incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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82
succumbed
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| 不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的过去式和过去分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死 | |
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83
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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84
abatement
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| n.减(免)税，打折扣，冲销 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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86
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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89
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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90
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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92
catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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