34 THE ODYSSEY OF AN ANIMAL COLLECTOR 
peans told me about it and firmly believed it themselves, partly 
through natives’ stories, but in some cases through their own 
observations. | 7 
The story goes that, for the sake of convenience, the civet-cat 
withholds its excrement for long periods by means of a wad of 
coarse twisted grass which it inserts into the rectum. This wad 
remains in position until the civet decides to evacuate and it is 
then removed, allowing the accumulated waste to pass. The wad 
is left behind and a new one used for the next occasion. In fact 
quantities of civet-cats’ excrement are to be found in certain spots, 
and are always accompanied by a wad or wads of grass—the 
explanation being that civet-cats prefer to perform these duties 
where they, or members of their kind, have done so before, and 
that they devour, as roughage, quantities of coarse dried grass 
which passes through the intestinal tract without being masticated. 
The grass is remarkably free from excrement, which fact con- 
tributes to the fallacy of the manufactured “wad.” 
Such stories are so deeply rooted in the minds of natives that no 
explanation will shake their belief in them. This is hardly sur- 
prising when one considers our own stupid legend about the 
ostrich burying its head in the sand. 
Around any native village of the Manica tribe the newcomer 
will be struck by something looking like a large log laid horizon- 
tally in the higher branches of any big tree. These are native-made 
beehives, or bee-traps, which are designed to attract the queen bee 
in her nuptial flight, so that the colony will take up residence 
and produce honey for the owner. Judging from the number I 
saw occupied, the swarming bees must regard these objects as ideal 
for home-making. Certainly they are plentiful enough, and I 
should say much more convenient than the average hole in a tree 
or crevice in a rock. The making of these hives is simple. A fair- 
sized tree, of a kind from which the bark can be easily removed, 
is chosen, and two circular cuts are made right round the tree, one 
somewhere near the ground and the other about four feet above it. 
A vertical incision is then made to join the two cuts, which enables 
the bark to be removed in one piece. This is then fixed in its 
original cylindrical form, and the two ends stopped with a cir- 
cular mat of plaited grass, a small hole being left in the center of 
