We found a party of them setting out for the
forest at a short distance, and wishing to see what they were about, we
accompanied them. We found them engaged in making what we afterwards
discovered to be bee-hives. They first took off the bark of some small
trees, fifteen or eighteen inches in diameter and about five feet in
width. They managed this by making two incisions right round, the trunk
five feet apart. A longitudinal slit from one to the other enabled them
to detach the bark from the trunk. The bark immediately assumed the
shape it had before, and where the slit was made it was sewn together
again with the fibre of a tree called the _motuia_. It thus formed a
wooden cylinder. A top and bottom were next fixed in it, formed of
grass rope, the lower one having a hole in the centre for the ingress
and egress of the bees. When the hives, as I shall call them, were
completed, they carried them off, and placed them high up in lofty trees
in different parts of the forest. The bees which were flying about
seeking habitations soon discovered them, and even while we were there
some were already taken possession of. A piece of cloth was tied round
the trunk of each tree, which, when I came to inquire about the matter,
I learned was looked upon as a charm, and was sufficient to prevent any
thieves robbing the hives. In the woods a number of beautiful yellow
birds were flying about, some of which I afterwards saw in cages in the
house of the chief and several of his people. The cages were very
neatly made, and had traps on the tops to entice their still free
companions. The chief called the birds _cabazo_, and I found that they
were a species of canary. They fed them on a plant called the _lotsa_,
of which they cultivate a considerable quantity for food, and wild
canaries come and help themselves, much as sparrows do to the seeds
which the gardeners have sown at home. I saw also several tame pigeons.
Early in the morning numerous other little songsters were chirruping
merrily away, some singing quite as loudly as our English thrushes; and
one, the king-hunter, _Halcyon senegalensis_, makes a clear whirring
sound like that of a whistle with a pea in it. As we were returning,
suddenly we saw streaming out of a hole innumerable flying creatures.
They formed a dense column. Out they came; there seemed to be no end of
them. No sooner did our companions catch sight of them than they made
chase. As the insects be