28S THE LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 



vegetable economy by masculation or caprifi cation, and 

 the conveyance of pollen. Their produce is of two 

 kinds. The cheaper resembles wasp-honey in Europe ; 

 it is found in the forest, and stored in gourds. More 

 than half-filled with dirt and wood-bark, it affords but 

 little wax ; the liquid is thin and watery, and it has a 

 peculiarly unpleasant flavour. The better variety, the 

 hive-honey, is as superior to the produce of the jungle 

 as it is inferior to that of India and of more civilised 

 lands. It is tolerable until kept too long, and it 

 supplies a good yellow wax, used by the Arabs to mix 

 with tallow in the manufacture of "dips." The best 

 honey is sold after the rains ; but the African hoards his 

 store till it reddens, showing the first stage of fermen- 

 tation : he will eat it after the second or third year, 

 when it thins, froths, and becomes a rufous-brown 

 fluid of unsavoury taste ; and he rarely takes the 

 trouble to remove the comb, though the Arabs set him 

 the example of straining the honey through bags of 

 plantain-straw or matting. Decomposition, moreover, 

 is assisted by softening the honey over the fire to ex- 

 tract the wax instead of placing it in the sun. The price 

 varies from one to three cloths for a large gourdful. 

 When cheap, the Arabs make from it "honey-sugar: " 

 the material, after being strained and cleaned, is stored 

 for two or three weeks in a cool place till surface-granu- 

 lation takes place; the produce resembles in taste and 

 appearance coarse brown sugar. The "siki," a vinegar 

 of the country, is also made of one part honey and four 

 of water, left for a fortnight to acetise : it is weak and 

 insipid. Honey is the only sweetener in the country, 

 except in the places where the sugar-cane grows, 

 namely, the maritime and the Lakist regions. The 

 people chew it, ignoring the simple art of extracting 



