The storm had now burst in full fury, and fortunate it was that a refuge had been found. The rain did not fall in separate drops as in temperate1 zones, but descended2 like the waters of a cataract3, in one solid and compact mass, in a way that could only suggest the outpour of some vast aerial basin containing the waters of an entire ocean. Contrary, too, to the storms of higher latitudes4, of which the duration seems ordinarily to be in inverse5 ratio to their violence, these African tempests, whatever their magnitude, often last for whole days, furrowing6 the soil into deep ravines, changing plains to lakes and brooks7 to torrents8, and causing rivers to overflow10 and cover vast districts with their inundations. It is hard to understand whence such volumes of vapour and electric fluid can accumulate. The earth, upon these occasions, might almost seem to be carried back to the remote period which has been called "the diluvian age."
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
[Illustration: Cousin Benedict's curiosity was awakened29.]
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.
A look of withering44 scorn was the only answer that the entomologist deigned45 to give.
"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 f............