A NIGHT INVASION BY THE TRAVEL LING ANTS OF NORTHERN NIGERIA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2735, 15 August 1906, Page 69

A NIGHT INVASION BY THE TRAVEL LING ANTS OF NORTHERN NIGERIA.

(Chambers's Journal.) The following occurrence is, no doubt, the experience of everyone who has everspent any length of time on the West Coast or in the interior of tropical Africa;, but still it may prove- of interest to thosa people who have beea fortunate enougnt not to have had to earn their living in that part of the world. It happened ta be my lot some tune 1 ago to be living in Northern Nigeria, in which protectc* rate, as elsewhere, numerous species of ants exist — black, red, and white; large, small, and medium. It is usually in thet wet season which lasts approximately from May to November, that the "travelling* ants — black, and of a medium size — travel about the country, disturbed and driven* dotybtlQijgj from their habitations bx tb*

immense amount of rain that falls and floods tfeem out.

It is quite common to see thousands upon thousands in one long stream all travelling in the same direction, looking for food and 'dry quarters; and any insect* or reptiles that may be in their path, and not able to make a quick escape, soon fall a prey to these wandering hordes. I was living at the time in a grass nouse— that is to say, the roof was of the latter substance, the walls composed of mud, and the rooms open to the root without any ceiling. One night I had been sitting up rather laU writing, and on retiring to my bedroom my attention was attracted by a curiow pattering noise as of Tain falling <ro the tarpaulin I had erected prer my bed, Which covering was very necessary in th» wet season, as tne natives in this part of the world are incapable of making roofs impervious to the rain. On looking to see the cause of this roise, I perceived hundreds and hundreds of black ants dropping from the roof, climbing down tfce walls, and coming through the aperture called by courtesy a "window. , Presently a scurrying noise arose from the grass mats on the floor and walls, and -there appeared all manner of innumerable nnd loathsome insects running and creeping down the walls out of every crevice, their starting-point evidently having been the roof, their usual home aiid resortspiders of many species (large and small, hairy and otherwise), lizards, crickets, cockroaches— all fleeirog before a mutual foe, to say nothing of a scorpion with its deadly sting, which is said to bring or. tetanus. The latter I speedily exterminated, and in a few seconds the ants •were responsible for its remains. By way of disgression, I may say that the "natives of those parts use the tail and body of the scorpion as an ingredient in a mixture they make for poisoning arrows, pounding the body up with poisonous leaves and smearing their arrow points with it. Of course, this is only one of, the many ways they have of doing that. The cause of all this commotion lay m the fact that the ants had climbed up into the roof, and, once there, had instituted a drive through it, searching for food, and all its occupants had fled downwards towards the light in my room, as if there .they conld secure safety. The next object I saw was a email snake, the colour of whipcord, said to be very poisonous, executing a tight-rope performance upon the rope of" my tarpaulin. It I quickly knocked down and killed, and by the morning nothing remained except the backbone. By this time the room was pretty full,, and, not having anywhere else to go. I climbed fon to my bed inside the mesquito curtains, which, being well tucked in at the bottom, sufficed to keep the ants out. From my post of vantage I was able to see and hear all that passed. At intervals an unfortunate lizard would rush across the floor covered with ante, who were gradually devouring it, and make frantic efforts to climb ihe farther wall, but, being too weak, woii'ld fall down exhausted, never to rise again, and speedily was demolished. It was slightly gruesome, t> say the least of it, in the middle of \thp night to see these thousands of ants noiselessly descending and crawling about everywhere, the stillness only broken by the insects and reptiles trying without -avail to escape their relentless pursuers, many of them half-eaten by the ants. These invaders remained for over three "'hours in my room, and then, to my great relief, began to leave.

The next morning I found them massed on the posts supporting the roof, waiting for the sun to warm them before departing, whirh they presently did in a most curious formation. A number of them appeared to join hands, so to speak, the whole length of the post, while the main body passed downwards underneath, and in some cases over the heads of those stationary. It was not till 7 p.m. of that day that the last detachment departed, .ratched anxiously by myself, as I was not much inclined to pass another night in their company. These pests will clear out a kitchen or larder in no time, and eufr up everything in the way of meat. It is said that it was the favourite punishment of the Emir of Kano to place his captives taken in war (tho&e he did not want as slaves), and all malefactors, upon ant-heaps, bound and helpless, and to leave them there until they were devoured. The ants that made these mounds of earth full of holes are a larger kind, black in colour, and have a power when touched of emitting a most unpleasant smell. But the subject of ants in that country is well-nigh an inexhaustible one.