D R E S S— S O I L—B EES. 
161 
plant of the same name ; this they burn, and then mix with 
the bark of a tree (which I could never get any body to shew 
me) ; the whole being pounded together, they pour water 
upon it and stir it briskly for a couple of hours : after having 
left it to ferment for two or three days, they draw it off into 
another vessel ; it thus acquires a sweet and agreeable 
flavour. It is always drunk at feasts and entertainments, 
because it promotes digestion. The root jin-jin-di is also 
used, without any admixture, as an excellent aperient medi- 
cine. 
The Landamas and the Nalous inhabit straw huts, 
like those of other negroes in the interior of Africa ; these 
huts are small and dirty. Their costume varies much. I 
have seen numbers of them in the neighbourhood of Ka- 
kondy with breeches like Europeans, a pagne over their 
shoulders, and a hat on their head ; others again without 
breeches, with a vest and a coussabe. The women wear 
pagnes. 
The soil near the banks of the Rio Nunez is fertile ; all 
the trees which flourish in the colonies would grow there if 
they were cultivated. The natives, accustomed to live in 
idleness, in their hot and even scorching climate, do not 
trouble themselves with any thing of the kind ; the Euro- 
peans alone have gardens. 
Bees are very common in this part of the country, and 
the inhabitants are fond of honey, which they obtain by 
placing hives in the trees. To get at the honey without 
accident, they let down the hive, by means of a rope, to a 
certain distance from the ground, and light under it a great 
fire of damp herbs ; the smoke drives away the bees, and 
the negroes are left masters of the hive. The wax which 
they make is sold to the Europeans. 
Bees are so numerous, that it is not uncommon for 
them to swarm into the huts and drive out the inhabitants ; 
recourse is then had to smoke to dislodge them. The short 
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