233 HOME LIFE ON AN OSTRICH FARM. 



The fruit is slightly acid and very refreshing ; and the 

 preserve, not unlike cherry jam, well repays the trouble 

 of making, which is considerable, the enormous stones 

 being quite out of proportion to the size of the fruit, 

 and very difficult to separate from the pulp. Even 

 these stones, however, possess their good qualities, and 

 contain a delicate little kernel, as nice a n\it as you 

 could wish to eat, from which an excellent oil can be 

 pressed. Then, too, — no small recommendation in the 

 eyes of ladies, — they make the most delightful beads, 

 being just soft enough to pierce with a good strong 

 needle, though not so soft as to shrivel up afterwards. 

 They are of all different shades of rich brown, and, 

 when threaded into necklaces, remind one of the old 

 Arab rosaries in Cairo, made from the " Mecca seeds," 

 and rubbed to a brilliant polish by devout Moham- 

 medan thumbs. Jam, beads, oil, and nuts ! Surely a 

 tree with such numerous and varied ways of making 

 itself useful to humanity seems quite worthy to have 

 figured in the pages of " The Swiss Family Robinson." 



The wild honey of the Karroo is generally very 

 good, though some is occasionally found to which un- 

 wholesome flowers have imparted their evil qualities. 

 If, for instance, " where the bee sucks " there is much 

 euphorbia-blossom, the honey is pungent and burns the 

 tongue. Sometimes it is even poisonous. 



A most useful volunteer assistant in the taking of 

 bees' nests is the honey-bird, an insignificant-looking 

 little brown fellow who seems possessed of an almost 

 uncanny amount of intelligence. Well does he know 



