270 THE TERRIBLE. 



alas! Mr Boddington, who swam and had succeeded in 

 clinging to a marble block, was again attacked, and being 

 unable any longer to resist the assaults of the countless 

 hordes of his infuriated winged foes, threw himself into 

 the depths of the water, never to rise again. On the fourth 

 day his corpse was discovered floating on the water, and 

 was interred with every mark of respect. The other 

 gentleman, Mr Armstrong, and his boatmen, although very 

 severely stung, are out of danger/' 



Such is the story as narrated in the Times of Jan. 28, 

 1859. But I have the pleasure of being personally 

 acquainted with some of the members of the family of Mr 

 Armstrong, who have assured me that the insects were not 

 hornets, as represented, but honey-bees ; it may be not 

 the hive-bee domesticated with us, but a species well 

 known as making honey. Whatever the true nature of 

 the insect, it affords an apt illustration of such passages of 

 Holy Scripture as the following : " The Lord shall hiss 

 for ... the bee that is in the land of Assyria." (Isa. vil 

 18.) " The Lord thy God will send the hornet among 

 them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from 

 thee, be destroyed/' (Deut. vii. 20.) 



And with this we shut up our " chamber of horrors." 



