Identifier: reportofnavalcom01unit (find matches)
Title: Report of the Naval committee to the House of representatives, August, 1850, in favor of the establishment of a line of mail steamships to the western coast of Africa, and thence via the Mediterranean to London;
Year: 1850 (1850s)
Authors: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Naval Affairs YA Pamphlet Collection (Library of Congress) DLC (from old catalog)
Subjects: Mail steamers African Americans
Publisher: Washington, Printed by Gideon and co.
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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n the course of my col-lecting, I had plenty bf opportunities for observing them atwork. They mount the trees in multitudes, the individualsbeing all workers. Each one places itself on the surface ofa leaf, and cuts with its sharp, scissor-like jaws a nearlysemi-circular incision on the upper side; it then takes theedge between its jaws, and by a sharp jerk detaches thepiece. Sometimes they let the leaf drop to the ground,where a little heap accumulates, until carried off by anotherarmy of workers; but generally, each marches off with thepiece it has operated upon, and all take the same road totheir colony. It was a most interesting sight to see thevast host of busy workers occupied in this work. The leavesare used to thatch the domes which cover the entrances totheir subterranean dwellings, thereby protecting from thedeluging rains the young broods in the nests beneath. Thenests of this ant are sometimes very extensive, being fortyyards in circumference, but not more than two feet in
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/■■.■..■•iv;i ■■ n\ M \^ M TROGANS. ^^1 height. It is very rarely that ants are seen at work on thesemounds, the entrances seem to be generally closed; onlynow and then are the galleries opened. The woods in the vicinity of Tunkas abound in variousspecies of cacti, the most abundant form being that of theorgan cactus, which grows to a height of from twenty tothirty feet. In one of these groves of cacti I first saw atrogan; it was seated alone on a branch, at no great eleva-tion; a beautiful bird, with glossy back and rose-coloredbreast. The note of this handsome bird, uttered at inter-vals in a- complaining tone, closely resembles the wordsqua, qua. It is a dull, inactive bird, and does not read-ily take to flight when approached. We spent three days in this interesting village, andadded largely to our coUections. Collecting, preparing ourspecimens, and making notes kept us well occupied. Oneday was so much like another that a description of eachwould be but a repetition

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