10 March, 1812. 
WILD HONEY. 
81 
country. As we made our way through bushes and over rough 
ground, where no path could be found to guide us or render our 
travelhng easier, the Hottentots sometimes, by chusing a smoother 
road, were scattered at a considerable distance from each other. 
To this circumstance, we were indebted for some delightful 
wild honey, as one of them chanced thus to observe a number of 
bees entering a hole in the ground, which had formerly belonged to 
some animal of the weasel kind. As he made signs for us to come 
to him, we turned that way, fearing he had met with some accident ; 
and, indeed, when the people began to unearth the bees, I did not 
expect that we should escape without being severely stung. But 
they knew so well how to manage an affair of this kind, and had 
gained so much experience, that they robbed the poor insects with 
the greatest ease and safety. Before they commenced digging, a 
fire was made near the hole, and constantly supplied with damp 
fuel to produce a cloud of smoke. In this the workman was com- 
pletely enveloped, so that the bees returning from the fields, were 
prevented from approaching, while those which flew out of the nest, 
were driven by it to a distance. Yet the rest of our party, to avoid 
their resentment, found it prudent, either to ride ofi", or to stand also 
in the smoke. About three pounds of honey were obtained ; which, 
excepting a small share which I reserved till tea-time, they instantly 
devoured in the comb ; and some of the Hottentots professed to 
be equally fond of the larvcB, or young imperfect bees. This was 
the first honey which had been found since we left Cape Town, or, 
at least, which I had partaken of: it appeared unusually liquid, and 
nearly as thin as water ; yet it seemed as sweet, and of as delicate a 
taste, as the best honey of England, unless the hard fare to which 
I had been forced to accustom myself, might, by contrast, lead me to 
think it much better than it really was. 
As we advanced we saw at a distance around us, in every 
quarter, innumerable herds of isoild aimnals, quietly grazing like tame 
cattle. Quakkas, springbucks, kannas, and hartebeests * on all sides, 
* The Hartebeest of the Cape Colony, called Caama (or Kaama) by the Hottentots, 
VOL. 11. M was 
