A NORTH AMERICAN BEE-HUNT. 175 



literally to the description of the land of promise, " a land 

 flowing with milk and honey;" for the rich pasturage of 

 the prairies is calculated to sustain herds of cattle as 

 countless as the sands upon the seashore, while the flowers 

 with \\'hich they are enamelled render them a very para- 

 dise for the nectar-seckina: bee. 



ED 



VVe had not been long in the camp when a party set 

 out in quest of a bee-tree ; and, being curious to witness the 

 sport, I gladly accepted an invitation to accompany them. 

 The party was headed by a veteran bee-hunter, a tall,, 

 lank fellow, in homespun garb, that hung loosely about 

 his limbs, and a straw hat shaped not unlike a bee-hive; a. 

 comrade equally uncouth in garb, and without a hat, 

 straddled along at his heels, with a long rifle on his 

 shoulder. To these succeeded half a dozen others, some 

 with axes and some with rifles; for no one stirs far from 

 camp without fire-arms, so as to be ready either for wild 

 deer or savage Indian. 



After proceeding some distance we came to an open 

 glade on the skirts of the forest. Here our leader halted, 

 and then advanced quietly to a low bush, on the top of 

 which I perceived a piece of honeycomb. This I found 

 was the bait or lure for the wild bees. Several were 

 humming about it, and diving into its cells. When they 

 had laden themselves with honey they would rise up in 

 the air, and dart off in one straight line, almost with the 

 velocity of a bullet. The hunters watched attejitively the 

 course thev took, and then set off in the same direction, 

 stumbling along over twisted roots and fallen trees, with 

 their eyes turned up to the sky. In this way they traced 

 the honey-laden bees to their hive, in the hollow trunk of 

 a blasted oak, where, after buzzing about for a moment, 

 they entered a hole about sixty feet from the ground. 



Two of the bee-hunters now applied their axes 

 vigorously at the foot of the tree to level it with the 



