The wonders of the world

by John Loraine Abbott

TREE TEMPLE AT MATIBO IN PIEDMONT.

THE TREE TEMPLE.

Among the miscellaneous wonders, or at least curiosities, that the traveler may behold as he passes through Italy, may be mentioned the tree temple, a view of which is given in the engraving below. This singular tree is one of the curious ornaments of a beautiful estate, called Matibo, in the neighborhood of Savigliano, in Piedmont, in northern Italy. It was planted some seventy years ago; but it was only within some thirty years that the idea was started of making it grow in the form of a temple, which, after much time, perseverance and labor, was finally realized. It consists, as may be seen in the engraving, of two stories, each of which has eight windows, and is capable of containing twenty persons. The floors are formed of branches twined together with great skill, and covered by nature with leafy carpets; and all around, the natural growth and verdure of the tree have formed thick walls, where flocks of birds have taken up their abodes and built their nests. The proprietor of the island Matibo has never disturbed these joyous little tenants of his property, but rather encouraged their presence; so that at all hours of the day, they may be heard fearlessly sporting and warbling, to the delight of the numerous visitors, who here enjoy alike the cool breezes and the beautiful prospect.

THE TERMITES, OR WHITE ANTS.

These curious and wonderful insects are found both in India and Africa. They are of several species, one or two of which construct works surpassing in skill those even of the bee and beaver, and comparatively of far greater size for them, than the boasted pyramids of the ancients are for man. The laborers employed among them in these works, are not a quarter of an inch in length; and yet the structures they rear rise to the hight of ten or even twelve feet above the surface of the earth, and in their interior construction and various arrangements, exceed even the works of man himself. The most striking parts of these structures are the royal apartments, the nurseries, magazines of provisions, the arched chambers and galleries, with their various communications; the ranges of the Gothic-shaped arches, projected, and not formed by mere excavation, some of which are two or three feet high, but which diminish rapidly, like the arches of aisles in perspective; the various roads, sloping staircases, and bridges consisting of one vast arch, constructed to shorten the distance between the several parts of the building, which would otherwise be connected only by winding passages. In the following engraving may be seen, on the right, one of the ant-hills as it appears externally; and on the left, a section of one of them, surmounted by its conical roof. In some parts of Senegal, the number, magnitude and closeness of these structures make them appear like the villages of the natives; and their strength is such, that when they have been raised to about half their hight, the wild bulls of the country stand on them, as sentinels, while the rest of the herd are feeding below. When at their full hight of ten or twelve feet, they are used by Europeans as look-out stations, whence they can see over the grass, which in Africa is, on an average, of the hight of thirteen feet. Four or five persons may stand on the top of one of these buildings, to look out for a vessel the approach of which may be expected.

ANT-HILLS OF THE WHITE ANT.

The termites themselves are divided into three distinct ranks, or orders, viz., the laborers, or working insects; the soldiers, or the fighting order, who avoid all labor, and are about twice as long as the laborers, and nearly fifteen times their bulk; and lastly, the winged or perfect insects, which may be styled the nobility or gentry, who neither fight nor work, and from whom come the kings and queens of the establishment.

These insects are extremely destructive; and it is said that a deserted town has been known to be utterly destroyed by them in two or three years, so that not a vestige of it remained. At Bombay, in a few hours, they will demolish a large chest of books, papers, silks, or clothes, perforating them with a thousand holes; and they sometimes penetrate and eat up the timbers and boards of houses, and in the same manner destroy the timbers of a ship. The only way to preserve anything from their depredations, when they are in a neighborhood, is to put it on a platform resting on glass bottles, which, if kept free from dust, they can not ascend.