208 Timor. 



it in j)alm-leaves, which were secured by twisting a slender 

 creeper round them. He then fastened his cloth tightly round 

 his loins, and, jDroducing another cloth, wrapped it round his 

 head, neck, and body, and tied it firmly round his neck, leaving 

 his face, arms, and legs completely bare. Slung to his girdle 

 he carried a long thin coil of cord ; and while he had been 

 making these preparations one of his companions had cut a 

 strong creeper or bush-rope eight or ten y-ards long, to one 

 end of which the wood-torch was fastened, and lighted at the 

 bottom, emitting a steady stream of smoke. Just above the 

 torch a chopping-knife was fastened by a short cord. 



The bee-hunter now took hold of the bush-rope just above 

 the torch and passed the other end round the trunk of the 

 tree, holding one end in each hand. Jerking it up the tree a 

 little above his head, he set his foot against the trunk, and, 

 leaning back, began walking up it. It was wonderful to see 

 the skill with which he took advantage of the slightest irreg- 

 ularities of the bark or obliquity of the stem to aid his ascent, 

 jerking the stiff creeper a few feet higher when he had found 

 a firm hold for his bare foot. It almost made me giddy to 

 look at him as he rapidly got ujd — thirty, forty, fifty feet above 

 the ground, and I kept wondering how he could possibly 

 mount the next few feet of straight smooth trunk. Still, how- 

 ever, he kept on with as much coolness and apparent certainty 

 as if he were going up a ladder, till he got within ten or fif- 

 teen feet of the bees. Then he stopped a moment, and took 

 care to swing the torch (which hung just at his feet) a little 

 toward these dangerous insects, so as to send up the stream 

 of smoke between him and them. Still going on, in a minute 

 more he brought himself under the limb, and, in a manner 

 quite unintelligible to me, seeing that both hands were occu- 

 pied in supporting himself by the creeiDer, managed to get 

 upon it. 



By this time the bees began to be alarmed, and formed a 

 dense buzzing swarm just over him, but he brought the torch 

 up closer to him, and coolly brushed away those that settled 

 on his arms or legs. Then stretching himself along the limb, 

 he crept toward the nearest comb and swung the torch just 

 under it. The moment the smoke touched it, its color changed 

 in a most curious manner from black to white, the myriads of 



