254 The Honey-Makers 



with interest to his description of a part of the ceremony 

 by wliich sacrifices were prepared in Egypt: — 



" When they have flayed their steer they pray, and when 

 their prayer is ended, they take the paunch of the animal 

 out entire, leaving the intestines and the fat inside the 

 body ; they then cut off the legs, the end of the loins, the 

 shoulders, and the neck ; and having so done, they fill the 

 body of the steer with clean bread, honey, raisins, figs, 

 frankincense, myrrh, and other aromatics. Thus filled they 

 burn the body, pouring over it great quantities of oil." 



We also hear from the same author of four wax figures 

 that were put into a body that was being embalmed. 



Wax was used for embalming purposes in different parts 

 of the East, and Herodotus tells us the following : — 



When a king of Scythia dies " they dig a large square 

 hole in the ground ; and having prepared this, they take 

 up the corpse, having the body covered with wax, the 

 belly opened and cleaned, filled with bruised cypress, in- 

 cense, and parsley and anise-seed, and then sewn up again, 

 and carry it in a chariot to another nation." 



To-day, as of old, Egypt prizes her bees, and we learn 

 that — 



" Bees are kept in Egypt, and their honey is much 

 prized by the inhabitants, who usually eat it in a clarified 

 state. It is inferior to that of England, and also to the 

 famous Greek honey." 



Arabia, with her wonderful " Nights," her gardens full of 

 ■ flowers, and her ever-recurring references to " sweet-meats," 

 was well acquainted with the bee and made much use of 

 its honey, but scant praise does the honey-maker itself re- 

 ceive from the chroniclers of that land of delights, — the 

 home of Aladdin and the Afrits. 



The murmur of the bee does not make musical the lit- 

 erature of Arabia. Where references occur they are almost 



