The Population Consisted Of One Old Man And
A Corresponding Old Woman, And One Fine Stout Young Man And Five
Young Women.
A host of little children, who were so similar in
height that they must have been one litter, and three or four
most miserable dogs and cats, were additional tenants of the
soi-disant village.
These people lived upon sago cakes, pumpkins, wild fruits and
berries, river fish and wild honey. The latter is very plentiful
throughout Ceylon, and the natives are very expert in finding out
the nests, by watching the bees in their flight and following
them up. A bee-hunter must be a most keen-sighted fellow,
although there is not so much difficulty in the pursuit as may at
first appear. No one can mistake the flight of a bee en route
home, if he has once observed him. He is no longer wandering
from flower to flower in an uncertain course, but he rushes
through the air in a straight line for the nest. If the
bee-hunter sees one bee thus speeding homeward, he watches the
vacant spot in the air, until assured of the direction by the
successive appearance of these insects, one following the other
nearly every second in their hurried race to the comb. Keeping
his eye upon the passing bees, he follows them until he reaches
the tree in which the nest is found.
There are five varieties of bees in Ceylon; these are all
honey-makers, except the carpenter bee.
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