H 



96 



BEES. 



whitish ; the colour of the body is dark brown, 

 with two white stripes from the nose to the tail 

 down the back ; the head is long, and the snout 

 is pointed; it has an abdominal pouch, which is 

 large. When pursued, it soon surrenders, by 

 coiling itself up in its tail. I give the descrip- 

 tion as I received it, for although we watched 

 oftentimes for the purpose of catching one o{ 

 these animals, we were not successful. I had 

 some geese at Jaguaribe and at Itamaraca, but 

 from what cause I know not, the young ones 

 were scarcely ever reared. Many other persons 

 had found equal difficulty in this respect with 

 myself. Guinea-fowls are esteemed, but give 

 much trouble, for their unaccommodating dispo- 

 sition renders it necessary to keep them separate 

 from all other kinds of fowl. There is only one 

 pair of peacocks in Pernambuco ; they are in tin 

 garden of the widow of a merchant, in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Recife. Snipes and wild ducks arc 

 to be found in low marshy grounds ; and upon 

 the island at certain times of the year there were 

 great numbers of wild doves. The bees which ! 

 have seen at some of the farm-houses are pre- 

 served in a part of the trunk of the tree in which 

 they had originally been found ; the tree is cut 

 down, and the portion containing the nest is 

 brought home. The bees are black, and much 

 smaller than those of Europe, nor is their, bite 

 nearly so painful ; the log of wood in which they 



