THE GIANT NCHELLELAYS
The giant nchellelays are so named as they are much larger than all the
other species of nchellelays, or white ants. Their bodies are of a
whitish yellow color, with very hard black heads, armed with most
formidable pincers,—terrible weapons for fighting and biting. Their
officers or overseers are smaller than the workers, but have more
elongated bodies. As they are larger than all the other nchellelays, so
their structures are much larger also. They vary from five to fifteen
feet in height. Millions upon millions of grains of earth are required
in their construction. Their mode of building these is wonderful and
unlike that of other termites. How they live under the ground before
their structure is built, no one can tell.
One day the giant nchellelays said: “Let us build a new structure for us
to live in and be secured against our enemies, the air, the rain, and
the sun.”
“Yes,” replied all the others forming the great colony, adding:
“We shall have to work hard and use a great deal of thought,
perseverance, and skill before our work is accomplished, for untold
numbers of grains of yellow earth will have to be taken from under the
black loam and carried above the ground where we are to build, put side
by side, and cemented together before our home is finished.”
Soon after this talk they began their labors. They brought, from the
numerous tunnels they made, grains of yellow earth, and laid their
foundation, each nchellelay carrying only one grain at a time.
The workers labored with great earnestness; thousands upon thousands
carried between their pincers grains of earth, and laid them down side
by side, each passing over the grain he had brought and depositing on it
a gluey substance which might be called mortar or cement, and which
joined the grains of sand together.
Layers upon layers were built in this manner, and this flat foundation
communicated by numerous tunnels with the yellow earth underneath. The
officers kept watch to see that the work was done. Special care was
taken in the building of the outer walls, for these were to be very
solid, having to protect the interior from the weather or from violence.
They made the wall much thicker and harder, and impervious to rain.
When daylight approached, they closed all the openings leading into the
building. Strange to say, though it is dark in the house, the ants can
tell when the day is over and when the night has come. So, after the sun
had set and darkness had come over the land, the officers broke with
their big pincers the mortar that had closed the openings, and the
workers continued their task. The building rose as if by enchantment,
for thousands upon thousands were working with all their might.
As the structure rose, the number of cells and tunnels increased, and
the building assumed somewhat of a sugar-loaf appearance.
As they began to reach the top, they built points or pinnacles, making
the top the very strongest of all the parts of the structure.
The giant nchellelays were wise in the art of building, and knew that
the summit of their dwellings was to bear the brunt of the weather, of
the rain-storm, and even the fall of a tree, so that in this place the
masonry was several inches thick.
The structure, after a great deal of labor, was finished, attaining a
height of fourteen feet and a diameter of five feet at the base.
Hundreds of millions of grains of yellow earth had been used in its
construction. Each grain had been placed as systematically as if the
most skilful bricklayer had done the work, and the roofs of the cells
were arched, for the ants knew the strength of the arch. And, when
completed, the building was so strong, high, and large, that even the
huge njokoo had to pass it by, leaving it untouched.
A long time had passed, when one day a very large dead branch fell upon
the building of the giant nchellelays and destroyed some of the
pinnacles. News soon spread through the cells that a great accident had
happened, that the top of the house was damaged; there was great
commotion and excitement among the population when this occurred. The
officers came round the openings to see what was the matter, and to
defend them against possible intruders. The wounded and the eggs were
brought inside. The work of repairing began at once, and the workers
brought their grains of earth, and much of the broken material was used
in making repairs.
[Illustration: [Termites]]
During the night the nchellelays rebuilt the pinnacles, the new ones
being of exactly the same shape as those that had been destroyed.
Things went on well for a few days, when another huge limb of the same
tree fell on the structure and damaged it again.
It was again rebuilt as it was before the accident. Sometime afterward
the building was once more damaged by another limb of the tree.
This time the giant nchellelays held a consultation, and after
deliberation concluded not to rebuild the pinnacle, deeming the place
dangerous, and determined to erect another structure in some other
place, and they accordingly withdrew.