Chap. X. THE HONEY-GUIDE. 209 



disadvantage. With a bright fire at our feet their presence 

 excites no uneasiness. A piece of meat hung on a tree, high 

 enough to make him jump to reach it, and a short spear, 

 with its handle firmly planted in the ground beneath, are 

 used as a device to induce the hyena to commit suicide by 

 impalement. 



The honey-guide is an extraordinary bird ; how is it 

 that every member of its family has learned that all 

 men, white or black, are fond of honey? The instant the 

 little fellow gets a glimpse of a man, he hastens to greet him 

 with the hearty invitation to come, as Mbia translated it, to 

 a bees' hive, and take some honey. He flies on in the 

 proper direction, perches on a tree, and looks back to see if 

 you are following ; then on to another and another, until ho 

 guides you to the spot. If you do not accept his first 

 invitation he follows you with pressing importunities, quite 

 as anxious to lure the stranger to the bees' hive as other 

 birds are to draw him away from their own nests. Except while 

 on the march, our men were sure to accept the invitation, 

 and manifested the same by a peculiar responsive whistle, 

 meaning, as they said, "All right, go ahead; we are coming." 

 The bird never deceived them, but always guided them to a hive 

 of bees, though some had but little honey in store. Has this 

 peculiar habit of the honey -guide its origin, as the attachment 

 of dogs, in friendship for man, or in love for the sweet pickings 

 of the plunder left on the ground ? Self-interest aiding in pre- 

 servation from danger seems to be the rule in most cases, as, 

 for instance, in the bird that guards the buffalo and rhinoceros. 

 The grass is often so tall and dense that one could go close up 

 to these animals quite unperceived ; but the guardian bird, 

 sitting on the beast, sees the aj^proach of danger, flaps its wings 

 and screams, which causes its bulky charge to rush off from a 



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