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Someone 'ad to go aboard. Are we to run away from these confounded ants whenever they show up?" Holroyd said nothing. He was thinking of a disciplined rush of little black shapes across bare sunlit planking. "It was his place to go," harped Gerilleau. "He died in the execution of his duty. What has he to complain of? Murdered!... But the poor fellow was what is it? demented.
The explorers pulled past the jetty, and became aware of a human skeleton wearing a loin cloth, and very bright and clean and shining, lying beyond. They came to a pause regarding this... "I 'ave all dose lives to consider," said Gerilleau suddenly. Holroyd turned and stared at the captain, realising slowly that he referred to the unappetising mixture of races that constituted his crew.
This place, with its leaf-thatch-covered houses and sheds, its creeper-invaded sugar-mill, its little jetty of timber and canes, was very still in the morning heat, and showed never a sign of living men. Whatever ants there were at that distance were too small to see. "All the people have gone," said Gerilleau, "but we will do one thing anyhow. We will 'oot and vissel."
There followed a moment of scrutiny. "It's ants," said the Englishman, and handed the focused field-glass back to Gerilleau. His impression of them was of a crowd of large black ants, very like ordinary ants except for their size, and for the fact that some of the larger of them bore a sort of clothing of grey. But at the time his inspection was too brief for particulars.
"De whole thing," said Gerilleau suddenly, "'as been got up to make me ridiculous. De whole thing!" They paddled about and regarded the clean white skeleton from various points of view, and then they returned to the gunboat. Then Gerilleau's indecisions became terrible.
The discussion grew dangerously heated on the second afternoon, and Holroyd saved the situation by going ashore in a boat to catch ants and see. He captured various specimens and returned, and some had eyes and some hadn't. Also, they argued, do ants bite or sting? "Dese ants," said Gerilleau, after collecting information at a rancho, "have big eyes. They don't run about blind not as most ants do.
But these were mere luminous chinks in the long grey passage of the streaming river, up which the throbbing engines beat. A certain liberal heathen deity, in the shape of a demi-john, held seductive court aft, and, it is probable, forward. But Gerilleau learnt things about the ants, more things and more, at this stopping-place and that, and became interested in his mission.
His attention was riveted by these specks. They were all walking in directions radiating from the fallen man in a manner the image came unsought to his mind like the crowd dispersing from a bull-fight. He became aware of Gerilleau beside him. "Capo," he said, "have you your glasses? Can you focus as closely as those planks there?" Gerilleau made an effort, grunted, and handed him the glasses.
His hat fell off, his head was not nice to look at, and his body flopped lax and rolled out of sight behind the bulwarks. "Caramba!" cried Gerilleau, and resorted to Holroyd forthwith. Holroyd was half-way up the companion. "Did you see dat?" said the captain. "Dead!" said Holroyd. "Yes. You'd better send a boat aboard. There's something wrong." "Did you by any chance see his face?"
They made out a number of big ants, whose still postures had a certain effect of watching them, dotted about the edge of the rude embarkation jetty. Gerilleau tried ineffectual pistol shots at these. Holroyd thinks he distinguished curious earthworks running between the nearer houses, that may have been the work of the insect conquerors of those human habitations.
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