50 ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA 



lead to a second and even to a third nest. The per- 

 son thus following it ought to whistle. The savages 

 in the interior, while in pursuit, have several charmed 

 sentences which they use on the occasion. The wild 

 bee of Southern Africa exactly corresponds with the 

 domestic garden bee of England. They are very gen- 

 erally diffused throughout every part of Africa, bees- 

 wax forming a considerable part of the cargoes of ships 

 trading to the Gold and Ivory Coasts, and the deadly 

 district of Sierra Leone, on the western shores of Africa. 

 Interesting as the honey-bird is, and though sw^eet 

 be the stores to which it leads, I have often had cause 

 to wish it far enough, as, when following the warm 

 "spoor" or track of elephants, I have often seen the sav- 

 ages, at moments of the utmost importance, resign the 

 spoor of the beasts to attend to the summons of the 

 bird. Sometimes, however, they are " sold," it being a 

 well-known fact, both among the Hottentots and tribes 

 of the interior, that they often lead the unwary pursuer 

 to danger, sometimes guiding him to the mid-day re- 

 treat of a grizzly lion, or bringing him suddenly upon 

 the den of the crouching panther. I remember on one 

 occasion, about three years later, when weary with war- 

 ring against the mighty elephants and hippopotaraoi 

 which roam the vast forests and sport in the floods of 

 the fair Limpopo, having mounted a pair of unwonted 

 shot-barrels, I sought recreation in the humbler pur- 

 suit of quail-shooting. While thus employed, my at- 

 tention was suddenly invited by a garrulous honey- 

 bird, which pertinaciously adhered to me for a consid- 

 erable time, heedless of the reports made by my gun. 

 Having bagged as many quails and partridges as I 

 cared about shooting, I whistled lustily to the honey- 

 bird, and gave him chase: after following him to a dis« 



