There is so much analogy with these cuckoo-proceedings in the habits of Ants, that, although these cannot correctly be designated as parasites, the details of their manners will not be wholly out of place, in winding up this chapter. I refer to the propensity manifested by certain species of ants to make slaves of the workers of another species, leading them into captivity and compelling them to labour for the benefit of the marauders. Strangely enough, the parallel between the human and the formican slave-trade holds to this further extent that, so far as we know, the kidnappers are red or pale-coloured ants, and the slaves, like true _niggers_, are black. The slave-hunting expeditions are planned and executed with the utmost skill and courage. "When the red ants are about to sally forth on a marauding expedition, they send scouts to ascertain the exact position in which a colony of negroes may be found; these scouts, having discovered the object of their search, return to the nest, and report their success. Shortly afterwards the army of red ants marches forth, headed by a vanguard which is perpetually changing; the individuals which constitute it, when they have advanced a little before the main body, halting, falling into the rear, and being replaced by others: this vanguard consists of eight or ten ants only. "When they have arrived near the negro colony, they disperse, wandering through the herbage and hunting about, as if aware of the propinquity of the object of their search, yet ignorant of its exact position. At last they discover the settlement, and the foremost of the invaders rushing impetuously to the attack, are met, grappled with, and frequently killed by the negroes on guard; the alarm is quickly communicated to the interior of the nest; the negroes sally forth by thousands, and the red ants rushing to the rescue, a desperate conflict ensues, which, however, always terminates in the defeat of the negroes, who retire to the inmost recesses of their habitation. Now follows the scene of pillage; the red ants, with their powerful mandibles, tear open the sides of the negro ant-hill, and rush into the heart of the citadel. In a few minutes each of the invaders emerges, carrying in its mouth the pupa of a worker negro, which it has obtained in spite of the vigilance and valour of its natural guardians. The red ants return in perfect order to their nest, bearing with them their living burdens. On reaching the nest the pupæ appear to be treated precisely as their own, and the workers, when they emerge, perform the various duties of the community with the greatest energy and apparent good will; they repair the nest, excavate passages, collect food, feed the larvæ, take the pupæ into the sun-shine, and perform every office which the welfare of the colony seems to require; in fact, they conduct themselves entirely as if fulfilling their original destination."[236] [228] Reinwardt. [229] Tennent's _Ceylon_, i. 104.