Of insects there are as great a variety here as of birds; the
scorpion, centipede, spider, ant, and many others; the ants are
of various sizes, from the smallest known in Europe, to the size
of near an inch long; some are black, some white, and others, of
the largest sort, reddish; those of this kind are really a
formidable little animal; if you tread near the nest, (which is
generally under ground, with various little passages or outlets)
and have disturbed them, they will sally forth in vast numbers,
attack their disturbers with astonishing courage, and even pursue
them to a considerable distance; and their bite is attended for a
time with a most acute pain. Some build their nests against a
tree, to the size of a large bee-hive; another kind raises little
mounts on the ground, of clay, to the height of four feet.

In speaking of the spider, it would be improper to be silent
upon the industry of this little creature; I call them little,
although, if compared with our common spider, they are very
large; they spread their web in the woods between trees,
generally to a distance of twelve or fourteen yards, and weave
them so very strong, that it requires considerable force to break
them. I have seen the silk of which the web is composed, wound
off into a ball, and think it equal to any I ever saw in the same
state from the silk worm; it is of the same colour, a pale
yellow, or straw colour. None of the gentlemen employed here have
as yet made any particular observations upon the manner in which
this animal is produced, or how they prepare their silk. I have
found upon bushes, on which the web has been hanging in clusters,
a thin shell, something like that wherein the silk-worm prepares
its silk, but of this shape, [The image is included in the HTML
version] and, upon opening them, I have seen a quantity of this silk