but we had every confidence in our two fires
and the screen which l'Encuerado had constructed; so we went quietly to
sleep, although we were awakened several times by a renewal of their
frightful uproar.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XXVIII.

A GROVE OF LOGWOOD TREES.--ANTS AT THEIR WORK.--PARASITIC INSECTS.--THE
GREAT ANT-EATER.--SPOONBILLS AND HERONS.--LOST IN THE FOREST.

We were all stirring by sunrise. After throwing away the remains of
yesterday's meat, one night in this climate being enough to putrefy it,
l'Encuerado arranged some fishing-lines along the stream, and our little
party set off, struggling against the heat, the mosquitoes, and the
horse-flies.

The Indian, following the flight of a purple-feathered bird, led us
close to an immense ant-hill. The little colony seemed very busy; but I
hurried Lucien away, fearing he might be bitten by them.

"The ants are relations of the termites, are they not, M. Sumichrast?"

"No, Master Sunbeam; the ants are relations of the bees, and,
consequently, belong to the order of _Hymenoptera_. There are male,
female, and neuter or working ants. The males and females are born with
wings; but after the females have laid their eggs, they drop off these
appendages, and assist the workers engaged in constructing the
habitation, taking care of the young ones, and collecting the provisions
required for the colony."

"Look here! one might fancy that the very grass was walking along."

"It is the ants which have stripped a tree of its leaves, in order to
hoard them up in their store-houses--a useless precaution, for these
insects become torpid during the winter months."

Lucien approached the moving column, which was divided into two lines
going contrary ways; one of them advancing loaded with vegetable
remains, and the other going back with empty mandibles. Nothing could be
more interesting than to see thousands of these little creatures walking
along in perfect order, eagerly carrying or dragging a load five or six
times greater than themselves. Lucien followed them. The column entered
the forest, and crawled up a tree, the lower limbs of which were already
stripped of their leaves, causing it to look as if it were dead. The
ants climbed nearer and nearer to the top, and the summit was visibly
losing its foliage.

"How long will they take to carry away all the leaves off that great
tree?" asked Lucien.

"They will have finished their work by t