158 SYLVA FLORIFEEA. 



Pliny tells us (Book xxi. Chap. 12.) from his 

 own knowledge. — The inhabitants of Hos- 

 tilia, a town on the banks of the Po, when 

 they observed the food of the bees began to 

 fail, took the hives up in the night when the 

 bees were housed, and placed them in a kind 

 of boat or barge, which they rowed four or 

 five miles up the river, and in the morning 

 the bees went out and found flowers that had 

 not been robbed of their nectar ; and this 

 they continued to do, until the bee-masters 

 perceived the boats sink to a certain depth by 

 the weight of the honey and wax thus col- 

 lected, when they were floated home to dis, 

 charge the treasure which these emblems of 

 industry had rifled from the bosom of Flora. 

 The peasants in Switzerland have a similar 

 practice to this day ; for in the spring of the 

 year they pack up their dairy implements, 

 and drive their large herds of cows up the 

 mountains, where they feed during the sum- 

 mer ; and the business of making cheese is con- 

 tinued in their challets or little huts until the 

 autumn, when the cattle is driven home, and 

 the cheese delivered to the proprietors. The 

 emigration to and return from the mountains is 

 equally looked forward to with pleasure. The 

 finest cow of each drove has the largest bell 



