He had been assured at Cairo and elsewhere that in the burning sands surrounding the pyramids no living thing, whether animal or vegetable, was to be found. This account he did not altogether credit, believing that Providence had condemned no spot on earth to utter sterility; and on narrowly examining the sands, he found among them one plant, the _chondrilla juncea_, a species of small lizard, and the _formica-leo_, or lion-ant, which had formed considerable establishments in the neighbourhood of the pyramids. These laborious little insects were running by thousands over the sands, each having in his claws a small bit of flint, a grain of sand, or a tiny morsel of wood, to be used in the construction of their dwellings. Several of these Hasselquist discovered. They were built in round holes in the loose soil, in a globular form, about twice the size of a man’s fist, and were entered by a cylindrical opening at the top not larger than the hollow of a goose-quill. To prevent surprise, numerous small openings led to subterraneous apartments below, through which, when their upper chamber was demolished, they always retreated with safety. It was no small compliment to the genius of these diminutive architects that their works could attract attention in the vicinity of the most sublime among the artificial wonders of the world, and appear, as they did to Hasselquist, still more wonderful than those prodigious creations of man. Restrained in the indulgence of his curiosity by the extreme scantiness of his finances, poor Hasselquist was for the most part compelled to confine himself to the environs of Cairo. Had his means permitted him to execute the designs he had formed, few travellers would have surpassed him in curious or useful researches; though neither his tastes nor physical powers inclined him to undertake those daring personal adventures which in many travellers are almost the only things deserving of notice. His entering at the risk of his life into a mosque at Old Cairo proves, however, that he was courageous even to foolhardiness when he had an object to gain. But this achievement rather disgusted him with enterprises of that kind; for when he had put his head in jeopardy to gratify his curiosity, he found absolutely nothing to reward his hardihood.