ROUGHING IT IN SOUTHERN INDIA 177 



and similar districts, with a medium climate, are stocked 

 with them — the wilder parts, that is, for they dislike dis- 

 turbances, and seek for solitary and secret places in which 

 to establish themselves. Nevertheless, the keen eyes and 

 noses of their spoilers, the Jain Kurumbers, can ferret them 

 out. 



The honey of cliff -bees is rather strongly flavoured. I did 

 not care to eat much of it myself, but it is in great request 

 amongst the natives, who use large quantities of it for their 

 sweetmeats ; also in medicines, in which it is of great ser- 

 vice, answering all the purposes of castor-oil and kindred 

 wholesome nastinesses. However, native tastes differ from 

 ours in many respects. 



The honey when collected was brought to our house 

 carried in great pots on men's heads, to be measured out 

 and despatched by cart to its market, or sold locally by 

 tender. To see the men come in at their usual half-run, 

 half-walk ; panting, heated, and dusty, with the viscid 

 honey trickling down their shining faces and spare bodies 

 from the overfilled pots — perhaps purposely so, to ensure 

 refreshment — was not a pleasing spectacle. On arrival, 

 down they squatted all in a row, relieved of their burdens, 

 and free to set to work cleaning themselves. This they did 

 much after the manner of flies, as any one who has watched 

 the operations of a fly rescued out of a jam-pot would say, 

 wiping off the honey with their fingers, and sucking away 

 at them with evident enjoyment. Wash it off ? No, 

 indeed ! That were a waste not to be thought of ! 



An apiary, as much as possible on English lines, was one 

 of the things started by F. at Manantavadi, but the honey 

 always tasted different from English honey, owing to the 

 flowers the bees found being different from the home sorts. 

 He was much more intimate with his bees than I could ever 

 be, as he had nothing to fear from them. A highly comical 

 set of trials were made among some would-be bee attendants 



M 



