ch. v.] Tame Bees. 89 



ings were built on piles over the muddy ground, and a 

 few ill -fed black pigs were rooting up turf in all directions 

 in quest of food. Here, for the first time, along this 

 route, we were pleased to see tame bees hived in sections 

 of hollow tree trunks, about two feet in length, the top 

 and bottom being stopped up, and a hole burnt in the 

 centre as an entrance for the busy workers. In one or 

 two cases separate little huts were erected especially for 

 the bees, but as a rule the hives were I'laced on a board 

 beneath the overhanging eaves of the houses. The kind 

 of bee kept is very small, much smaller than that common 

 in England, and I was struck at the peculiar manner in 

 which they wriggled their bodies simultaneously as they 

 congregated in groups on the hive near the entrance. 

 These tame bees, as well as their wild brethren, who nest in 

 the tall forest trees, make but little honey in proportion to 

 that of our northern kinds, and are especially kept for 

 the wax they yield, this being used occasionally by the 

 natives in the form of rude candles, and it is also an 

 article of export from Borneo. 



Being in advance of our followers we waited here an 

 hour. It is a singular trait of the Bomeans to show no 

 curiosity when strangers pass through their villages. We 

 sat here on a rock for some considerable time, and yet, 

 not even the children came out to look at us. Two men 

 sitting outside on a verandah, basket-making, and an old 

 woman, were all the inhabitants we saw, but doubtless 

 many a pair of bright eyes watched us secretly through 

 the cracks of the bamboo houses. As it came on to rain, 

 however, we entered one of the houses, in which wen; 

 seven or eight young men and several women. We tried 

 to get some fruit here, but the langsat were not ripe, and 

 cocoanuts were scarce owing to the flowering stems being 

 cut oil' and the exuding sap collected in a bamboo vessel 



