212 A ILONEY ANT.

plain. During the day negroes are employed in
destroying the nests of crabs, and hence these
occurrences begin ordinarily during the night.
But the crevasse in question was so broad and
deep, that they were obliged to wait for the waters
to diminish before they could repair it. We could
not cross it on horseback, so we had recourse to a
boat.”

At another time, when at Matamoros, an Ameri-
can named Langstroth showed him, in a glass
vessel, some small vesicles, about the size and shape
of a raisin-grape, which he said were the produc-
tions of a honey ant; he was told that, in the state
of Tomaulipos, in a valley little known, there were
found ants of enormous size, which make honey
sweeter even than that of the wild bee; they con-
tinue half buried in the earth, while others of the
same family feed them during the time they make
the honey. This honey is formed in a vesicle ad-
hering to the ant; and when the vesicle is full, the
insect dies. The honey the Abbé saw in the
vesicles shown him was of the colour and trans-
parence of a beautiful topaz of Brazil. The ant is
said to resemble the ordinary ant. He inquired
in vain for further details, but the existence of the
insect was so little known that he could never suc-
ceed in learning more about it.

Before taking leave of this animated and enter-