The Andes and the Amazon : or across the continent of South America /

Abstract

*[p. 300-301: ".... But the most prominant, by their immense numbers, are the dreaded saübas. Well-beaten paths branch off in every direction through the forest, on which broad columns may be seen marching to and fro, each bearing vertically a circular piece of leaf. Unfortunately they prefer cultivated trees, especially the coffee and orange. They are also given to plundering provisions; in a single night they will carry off bushels of farina.... The light-colored mounds often met in the forest, sometimes measuring forty feet in diameter by two feet in height, are the domes which overlie the entrances to the vast subterranean galleries of the saüba ants. These ants are eaten by the Rio Negro Indians, and esteemed a luxury; while the Tapejos tribes use them to season their mandioca sauce."]