A RUSH TO THE BUSI 



It is not to be assumed that every time one follows 

 a honey-guide one will find a dessert ; it is possible 

 that the nest is known to another indicator, which 

 has been accompanied by a ratel or by Kafirs, and you 

 find a rifled hive. On other days it will conduct you 

 to the lair of a hyaena, a lion, or a leopard, not that 

 the little traitor has made a compact with these 

 robbers, but for the following motive : — One day 

 the honey-guide conducted me to the carcase of a 

 buffalo slain by a lion, and, having nothing better 

 to do, I turned over the bones in search of the burying- 

 beetles to be found in such situations. In addition 

 to some adult insects, I found there grubs of Der- 

 mestes, 1 which I left. Scarcely had I moved away, 

 when the little bird flew to the ground, and devoured 

 the larvae thus exposed. The explanation of which 

 I was in search was revealed, and I knew immediately 

 that the honey-guide conducts you to the haunt of 

 the carnivora only because it knows that it will find 

 near them bones, and that it hopes that in disturbing 

 these you will offer it a feast like the one I have just 

 furnished. 



On the day of which I am speaking our guide 

 behaved well, for we obtained, what is very rare, 

 the booty from two adjacent hives. 



If we returned this evening with a dessert, there 

 was not, in revenge, a roast, for I had no opportunity 

 of firing a shot. Nevertheless, I spend a day on 



1 A kind of beetle found on carcases and skins. 

 (43) 



