n, the _siri_ box is immediately
presented, that the mouth may be filled before commencing conversation.

In a short time a bee was seen flying before us; and immediately Ali
hurried on at a rapid rate, till we came under a tall, straight tree,
with a very smooth bark, and without a branch for at least eighty feet
from the ground. On one of the long outspreading branches I saw a
couple of large combs hanging down, of a black colour. After watching
it for a minute, there was a slight movement on the outside, and I
discovered that it was covered with bees. Ali now produced a small
bundle of resinous wood, which he had brought with him to serve as a
torch, and giving it to me to hold, lighted the end. He then fastened
one of the cloths round his loins, and another over his head, neck, and
body, leaving, however, his face, arms, and legs without covering. The
thin coil of rope he had brought he secured to his girdle, while he
formed round the tree a circle of tough creepers, inside of which he
placed his body. He now secured his torch to the end of another piece
of ratan, eight or ten yards long, with his chopping-knife fastened by a
short rope. Having done this, he began to ascend the tree, throwing his
ratan band a short distance above him, leaning back at the same time and
placing his feet against the trunk. It appeared to us who looked on
that every instant he would perform a somersault, and come down head
first, with a great risk of breaking his neck; but he seemed to have no
fear of that sort. Up he went. After ascending a few feet, and getting
a firm hold with his bare feet, he again threw up the creeper; and thus
he went on and on. If there was any unevenness in the trunk, he took
immediate advantage of it by either placing his foot upon it or catching
the creeper above it. At length he got within about ten feet of the
bough on which the bees hung. He then lifted the torch, swinging it
towards the bees, so that the smoke ascended between him and them. He
next in a wonderful manner mounted on the bough; and we could not help
dreading that the bees would attack him and sting him to death. He,
however, brought the torch nearer and nearer to them; and in a short
time the cones, which before had been black with bees, were completely
deserted, and their natural white colour appeared. The insects, instead
of flying towards him, formed a dense mass above his head, where they
seemed to hover as if contemplatin