rs,
called (incorrectly) tarantulas, credited by some with being poisonous,
come into the houses. But they are really not in any way dangerous. I
knew a man who used to keep tarantulas under his mosquito-nets so that
they might devour any stray mosquitoes that got in. The example is
hardly worth following. The Australian tarantula, though innocent of
poison, is a horrible object, and would, I think, give you a bad fright
if it flopped on to your face.

Australia is rich in ants. There is one specially vicious ant called the
bulldog ant, because of its pluck. Try to kill the bulldog ant with a
stick, and it will face you and try to bite back until the very last
gasp, never thinking of running away. The bulldog ant has a liking for
the careless picnicker, whom she--the male ant, like the male bee, is
not a worker--bites with a fierce energy that suggests to the victim
that his flesh is being torn with red-hot pincers. I have heard it said
that but for the fact that Australia is so large an island, a great
proportion of its population would by this time have been lost through
bounding into the surrounding sea when bitten by bulldog ants. It is
wise when out for a picnic in Australia to camp in some spot away from
ant-beds, for the ant, being such an industrious creature, seems to take
a malicious delight in spoiling the day for pleasure-seekers.

In one respect, the ant, unwillingly enough, contributes to the pleasure
and amusement of the Australian people. In the dry country it would not
be possible to keep grass lawns for tennis. But an excellent substitute
has been found in the earth taken from ant-beds. This earth, which has
been ground fine by the industrious little insects, makes a beautifully
firm tennis-court.

It is not possible to leave the ant without mention of the termite, or
white ant, which is very common and very mischievous in most parts of
Australia. A colony of termites keeps its headquarters underground, and
from these headquarters it sends out foraging expeditions to eat up all
the wood in the neighbourhood. If you build a house in Australia, you
must be very careful indeed that there is no possibility of the termites
being able to get to its timbers. Otherwise the joists will be eaten,
the floors eaten, even the furniture eaten, and one day everything that
is made of wood in the house will collapse. All the mischief, too, will
have been concealed until the last moment. A wooden beam will look to be