248 Preparations for the March . 
boiled ground-nuts and red peppers in equal pro¬ 
portions, pounded separately in wooden mortars, 
mixed and squeezed to drain off the oil; the hard 
mass, flavoured with salt or honey, will keep for 
weeks. The bees are not hived in Congo-land, 
but smoked out of hollow trees : as in F. Po and 
Camarones Peaks, they rarely sting, like the harm¬ 
less Angelito of the Caraccas, “ silla,” or saddleback ; 
which Humboldt (“ Personal Narrative,” chap, 
xiii.) describes as a “ little hairy bee, a little 
smaller than the honey-bee of the north of Eu¬ 
rope.” Captain Hall found the same near Tam¬ 
pico ; and a hive-full was sent to the blind but 
ingenious Francis Huber of Geneva, who died in 
1831. This seems to be the case with the busy 
hymenopter generally in the highlands of Africa; 
the lowland swarms have been the terror of tra¬ 
vellers from Mungo Park’s day to that of the 
first East African Expedition. 
About noon we were visited by the confidential 
slaves of a neighbouring chief, who prospectively 
welcomed us to his territory. These men were 
gaudily attired in cast-off clothes, and in the crim¬ 
son night-caps formerly affected by the English 
labourer : on the mountains, where the helmet is 
confined to royalty, it is the head-dress used for 
state occasions. They sat in the hut, chatting, 
laughing, and discussing palm wine by the gallon, 
till they had their wicked will in the shape of a 
