FOREIGN BEES. 
last mentioned ; and the town of Vintain, situated 
on the southern side of the river, is much resorted to 
by Europeans on account of the great quantities of 
bees-wax brought thither for sale. It is collected in 
the woods by the Feloops, a wild and unsociable race 
of people. The honey they chiefly use themselves 
in making a strong intoxicating liquor, much the 
same as the mead which is produced from honey in 
Britain.* It is said by some writers that the bees 
along the west coast of Africa are destitute of stings. 
It was not so found by Park, to whom we are in- 
debted for the above information; and that those 
farther in the interior, about the 1 1 th deg. of west 
long, are well provided with this formidable weapon, 
appears from the following incident, mentioned by 
the same traveller as having taken place near Doo- 
froo : — “We had no sooner unloaded the asses, 
than some of the people, being in search of honey, 
unfortunately disturbed a large swarm of bees. They 
came out in immense numbers, and attacked men 
and beasts at the same time. Luckily most of the 
asses were loose, and galloped up the valley ; hut the 
horses and people were very much stung, and obliged 
to scamper off in all directions. In fact, for half an 
hour, the bees seemed completely to have put an end 
to our journey. In the evening, when they became 
less troublesome, and we could venture to collect our 
cattle, we found many of them much stung and 
swelled about the head. Three asses were missing ; 
one died in the evening, and one next morning. Our 
* Parks Travels in Africa, vol. i. p. 6. 
