THE SALT LAKE AND SEMLIKI VALLEY. 143 



This plant seems to thrive everywhere in the 

 mountain, and I have seen it at 8,000 feet. 



Portions of the valley are very beautiful, par- 

 ticularly where a gigantic shrubby balsam with 

 a large white flower and spur four or five inches 

 long enlivens the darkness of the forest. Probably 

 this is visited by moths. 



Another kind of balsam common in the banana 

 groves is one of the main food stores of the hive 

 bee. 



A large carpenter bee is common in this valley, 

 usually on some of the large yellow Crotalaria 

 shrubs or numerous Melastomacese. It has very 

 vivid yellow and black bands — that is to say the 

 female. The male is yellow all over, and never 

 seems to collect any food. Usually ten or twelve 

 of the latter may be seen flying about near the 

 tree from which they emerged in youth, and 

 shining like golden jewels in the sunlight. 



The natives often brought me the burrows. 

 These are made by a female in an old, half 

 rotten stick, or sometimes in a piece of elephant 

 grass. The tunnel is just about the size of the 

 bee, probably half an inch in diameter, and divided 

 into little compartments by neat wads of sawdust 

 plastered together. One finds the young bees in 

 all stages of development, but usually those in 

 one burrow are fairly alike. I think a large store 

 of pollen is enclosed in each compartment beside 

 the egg. There is a common form at the Cape 



