The house in which I resided at Jaguaribe, had been in former times a barn in which the sugar was put into chests for exportation; and I had heard from the neighbours that the ants about it were numerous; and particularly a small black ant called the _formiga douda_, or foolish ant, owing to its not appearing to have any track, but to wander about the spot upon which the horde has appeared, running fast to and fro, and irregularly. These are distinguished from the black ant of the orange trees by this name of _douda_. One evening I had been asleep in my hammock, and was not a little surprised on waking, to see that part of the wall opposite to me, which was white-washed, appeared to be covered with a piece of black cloth; I got up, and approached it with the lamp in my hand. I soon saw what it was, and could not help shuddering, for the sight, I may say, was horrible; myriads of these ants were marching along the wall, and their numbers were rapidly increasing. I had scarcely recovered from the first surprise, when on looking round, I saw that the other side of the room was in the same state; I left the place quickly, and calling to some of the negroes, desired them to bring coco and palm-leaves in abundance; this was done, and operations being actively set on foot against them by applying lighted leaves to the walls, we soon got rid of the major part of the ants; however many of them escaped by retreating into the numerous cracks in the walls. The next morning the walls were again white-washed, and as many of the crevices filled up as possible. On another occasion, I was awakened in bed in the middle of the night, by a sensation in my feet as if they had been pricked gently by many pins. I jumped up, and as there was a light in the room, I soon perceived what had caused the uneasy sensations; several of these black ants were running about my legs, and upon the bed and floor they were every moment becoming more and more numerous. I escaped, and as soon as the bed cloaths were removed the scene of burning the host of enemies was re-acted. There yet exists another description of ants, called the _tioca_; these are black, and on the whole are even larger than the destructive red ant; but I never saw the _tioca_ in great numbers; and when I have observed them, it has been near to where sugar is kept, running to and fro without any settled path and seemingly without any plan of operations. Their bite is still more painful than that of the red ant.