890 LIFE OF DA VID LI VINGSTONE, LL.D. 



Once a year the owner climbs the tree and draws up a basket for the 

 wax and honey with a cord, and also some dry grass and fire. He opens the 

 aperture, and, lighting wisps of grass, smokes the bees as they issue out. 

 Most of them drop half suffocated to the ground and the comb is extracted, 

 a small quantity being left behind to induce the bees to work again in the 

 same hive. If no comb be left the natives affirm that they will not return 

 again to the hive. In some places they are careful not to kill any of the 

 bees, and are said to extract the comb as often as three times a year. Bee- 

 hives are their principal wealth, and some families possess as many as three 

 and four hundred. 



Scorpions are very abundant in the whole of the district of Benguela, 

 and cases are constantly occurring of persons being stung by them. In some 

 places, hardly a stone or piece of wood can be lifted from the ground with- 

 out finding one or more scorpions under it. They are of all sizes, up to six 

 and seven inches long. Their sting is rarely fatal, except to old people or 

 persons in a bad state of health. The effects of the sting are, however, very 

 extraordinary ; in severe cases it appears to paralyse all the muscles of the 

 body, sometimes with much pain, in others with little or none. 



Catumbella is an important place, about nine miles to the north of Ben- 

 guela. The Portuguese have a fort here, and a detachment of soldiers. 

 There are many traders established in the place; and a large trade is carried 

 on with the natives of the interior in wax, ivory, gum copal, white gum, and 

 other productions. It is on the high road to Bailundo and Bihe. The scenery 

 is exquisite, from the hilly and rocky character of the country and the luxu- 

 riance of the vegetation, both wild and cultivated. A small river, so shallow 

 that it can always be forded, except during the heavy rains, runs by the town. 

 It is a pretty stream, but full of alligators, through whom many natives lose 

 their lives while crossing. From the top of a mountain near the town, which, 

 with one opposite, forms the deep gorge through which the river passes, there 

 is a view of surpassing loveliness. 



The town of Benguela is situated on a level plain near the sea, with a 

 line of hills about six miles distant at the back. It is a large picturesque 

 town, consisting of good houses and stores, distributed in an irregular manner 

 over several squares and roads, which in the wet season are covered with a 

 luxuriant growth of grass and weeds in flower giving the town the appearance 

 of a wild garden. The soil is fertile, and all kinds of fruit and vegetables 

 grow in abundance and perfection. The trade, especially in bees-wax, of 

 which a great quantity is exported, increases every year. To the north of 

 the town there is a green belt of forest marking the course of the River 

 Cavaco. Not far from the beach is a large fort, garrisoned with a force of 

 soldiers that supplies detachments to the adjoining districts. 



"The natives of Benguela belong to a tribe called the Mundombes, who 



