4 HUMBLE CREATURES. 



winged flock, to entrust their hives to the care of 

 boatmen who make a trade of transporting great 

 numbers from place to place down the rivers, resting 

 by day in order that the Bees may sally forth in 

 search of honey, and continuing their course at night. 

 The Bee accomplishes its object by means some- 

 what similar to those we suggested to yourself under 

 the like circumstances, but with far greater accuracy 

 and precision. No sooner does it quit the hive in 

 the strange locality, than it mounts in the air, and 

 having attained a sufficient eminence, flies ofi" at 

 once in the right direction, guided by its unerring 

 instinct. This instinct also serves it on its return to 

 the hive ; and although it may not be permitted to 

 sojourn in the same locality for two days together, 

 yet it goes and comes apparently without any more 

 difficulty or hesitation than we ourselves feel in de- 

 parting from or returning to our homes during the 

 performance of our daily duties. In this operation 

 it is no doubt aided by its wonderful eyes, the beau- 

 tiful structure of which we shall presently have an 

 opportunity to examine, and then indeed you will no 

 longer be surprised at the end that their possessor is 

 thereby enabled to attain. 



Eemarkable as is this instinct in the Bee, which 

 renders it capable of discovering its food at a distance, 

 there is another phase in its history that is quite 

 beyond our comprehension, and which appears almost 

 supernatural when considered in relation to so insig- 

 nificant and diminutive a creature. 



