614 
HONEY AND WAX. 
Chap. XXX. 
length, of the confinement, but on passing the same tree at Kolo- 
beng about eight days afterwards, the hole was plastered np 
again, as if, in the short time that had elapsed, the disconsolate 
husband had secured another wife. We did not disturb her, and 
my duties prevented me from returning to the spot. This is 
the month in wliich the female enters the nest. We had seen 
one of these, as before mentioned, with the plastering not quite 
finished; we saw many completed; and we received the very 
same account here that we did at Kolobeng, that the bird comes 
forth when the young are fuUy fledged, at the period when the 
corn is ripe; indeed, her appearance abroad with her young is 
one of the signs they have for knowing when it ought to be so. 
As that is about the end of April, the time is between two 
and three months. She is said sometimes to hatch two eggs, and, 
when the young of these are full-fledged, other two are just out 
of the egg-shells: she then leaves the nest with the two elder, the 
orifice is again plastered up, and both male and female attend to 
the wants of the young which are left. On several occasions I 
observed a branch bearmg the marks of the male having often 
sat upon it wdien feeding his mate, and the excreta had been ex¬ 
pelled a full yard from the orifice, and often proved a means of 
discovering the retreat. 
The honey-guides were very assiduous in their friendly offices, 
and enabled my men to get a large quantity of honey; but though 
bees abound, the wax of these parts forms no article of trade. In 
Londa it may be said to be fully cared for, as you find hives 
placed upon trees in the most lonesome forests. We often met 
strings of carriers laden with large blocks of this substance, each 
80 or 100 lbs. in weight, and pieces were offered to us for sale 
at every village; but here we never saw a single artificial hive. 
The bees were always found in the natural cavities of mopane- 
trees. It is probable that the good market for wax afforded to 
Angola by the chm^ches of Brazil, led to the gradual develop¬ 
ment of that branch of commerce there. I saw even on the 
banks of the Quango as much as sixpence paid for a pound. In 
many parts of the Batoka country, bees exist in vast numbers; 
and the tribute due to Sekeletu is often paid in large jars of honey; 
but having ho market nor use for the wax, it is thrown away. 
This was the case also mth ivory at the Lake Ngami, at the 
