-2^6 N A R R A T I V E O F A N
[im
c h a p , howl, which they perform in choms whole gifmipes to**
i ^x y ' t gether,; arid fo loud, that it may he heard aho^e a mile*,
.thefe difcordant co^erts, ’ the ir®groes told me, they ge*
fjerafly repeat, both uight and day, at thé time o f high
wafer,-which, it-jsTfoppofedj the baboons iihow hyyfinf
■ flindt.— Whenfpeaking of inflindtin animals, I cannot
omit relating, the following lingular fadtk; after which f
fliall return to the hifloracal part o f myrnarratlyeufj
On the 16th I was viSted by a hei^hhonrmg" gehfleH
.man, whom 1 conduced up my ladder!; but he had no
.Ibpner eptered- my aerial dweHihg, than he. leapt down
from the top to the ground,roaring:lihe a madman With
agony and pain, after which he ihflantlyl plunge# his
head into the river; butlooking up, I foon .difoovéred
the caufe of hisdiflrefsto be an enormous neR-ofwild.
.bees or cw0££e-eyoajfeer in the thatch* ddreétly above my
•head, as I Rood within my door; when t immediatêlyi took
to my heels as he had done, and ordered them toiiïë de>*
moliflied by my Haves without delay. A tar ndop was
now brought, anti. the devaluation jufl going s to .corm-
mence, when an old negro Hepped up, and offered to r e ceive
any punilhment 1 Ihould decree if ever one of thefe
bees ihould Ring me in perfan. u Maffera,” faid he, u they
M would have Rung, you long ere now had you been a
u flranger to them; but they being your tenants, that is
^ gradually allowed to build upon your premiffes, they
*f affuredly know both you and your’s, and will never
•“ hurt either you or them.” I inflantly aflènted to the
proportion,
E X P:E D I T 1 0 ;N7 T O; $ U R I;N AM . '237
.propoiifion, and tyhig.th© old black man to a tree, or-
ïdëïèdïtnw .boy Qua<toTonafeend the. ladder quite naked,
; did, and; waSv ^ them ventured
Ito; fo>ll©W>f aitd Ï declMeiupbp; n^jhonour, that even after
fhaking:the neR, lyfbiehmade i§§§g inhabitants buz about
imy eats; not a flngle-;b.de attempted-to fljng med I next
.releafed themMihegro, andjrewarded him with a- gallon
sof rum 'arid five'RiillArigs.for the difcoyeryk This fwarm
•of bees. I fince kept unhurt, as my body-guards, and they
.have made many overfeeds take ;a dêfperate ksapfor my
amufement, as 1 generally, fent them up my ladder upon
■ fbmefrivolous meflagpj when I wiflred to punifii them
-far in|uffice.. and cruelty, which was not feMom.
. . .T h e abovet hegfo. affured me, that on his maflerb
eflate-was an ancient tree, in which had been lodged
■ evèr fince-he could remember; a Society of birds, and another
o f bees, who. lived in the greateR harmony together
; but fliould any Rrange birds come to diflurb or
feed upon the.bees, they were infiantly repulfed by their
•feathered allies, and i f Rrange bees dared to venture near
•the birds1 nefls, the native fwarrn attacked the invadèrs,
and Rung them to death: that his maRer and family
had fo much relpedt for the above aflbeiation, that the
tree was confidered as facred, and was. not to be touched
by an axe until it fliould yield to all-deflroying time.
On the 22d, a patrole “arrived from Rietwyk, in Pirica,
who informed me* that a party of our troops were juR
returned to Java Creek, from a cruize to Vredenburg, at
. fcjj the