I HAVE said that the lands of the Engenho Velho were much infested by the red ants; but indeed scarcely any part of the island of Itamaraca is free from these most noxious insects. They are of a dusky red colour, and vary from one quarter of an inch to one inch in length. Their bite is painful, and they will sometimes fix themselves so firmly with their antennæ, as to leave the points of them in the wound which they have made. Their food is entirely vegetable. I found them extremely troublesome during the continuance of the rains. They would often make their way between the bricks of the floor of my house, and pick up any particles of flour or any grains of maize which might chance to be strewed upon it. On one occasion, two large bags of maize of equal size were placed in the room at night; but in the morning one of them was considerably lower than the other; for this I could not account until, on a nearer examination, I saw one of the red ants coming out of a small hole which there was at one side of the bag, with its load upon its back, and soon another followed, and so forth. I now accidentally put my hand upon the bag, and it fell still lower; so that an arch must have been formed within, either by a very singular chance, or by the management of these most extraordinary insects. Upon another evening, they made their appearance in such great numbers as to darken the floor of the corner of the room from which they proceeded. I sent for some dried leaves of the coco-tree, and only got rid of the enemy by making in the house a bonfire upon the spot of which they had taken possession. I had some pomegranate trees at the back of the cottage, which I was preserving with great care; and I had one evening particularly admired the beauty of one of these plants, which was covered with red blossoms. In the morning the flowers were still upon the tree, but scarcely any leaves remained; these were upon the ground, and some of the destroyers were cutting off the few which still were left, whilst their companions were occupied below in conveying away the spoil. I could not avoid watching them for some minutes, and admiring their ingenuity and systematic manner of going to work; but soon I vowed vengeance upon these enemies, and immediately commenced operations. There was a steep bank a little below the cottage, which had every appearance of harbouring these insects, for the red earth which lies at some distance below the surface of the ground, was thrown up all around it. I placed four negroes below the bank, to cut it away perpendicularly. They had not worked long before the war commenced, for a war it was when some of the nests were laid open. The ants came out in great numbers, but torches of dried coco leaves were ready and a large fire, and with these weapons we had much the advantage of them. The bank contained a vast number of circular holes of about six inches diameter, which were placed at unequal