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friend. PH answer for it, judging by the sign vou carry between the windows of your face,” returned Ben, laughing; “but hush, men, hush. Th at first bee is filled, and begins to think of home. —He’ll soon be off for Honey Centre, and I must keep my eye on him.— \ow, stand a little aside friends, and give m-e room for my craft.” The men complied, and La Bourdon was n ow all intense attention to his business. The bee first taken had, indeed filled itself to sa tiety, and at first seemed to be too heavy to rise* on the wing. After a few minutes of prep* aration, however, up it went, circling around the spot, as if uncertain what course to take. The eye of Ben never left it, and when the insect darted off, as it soon did, in an air line, he saw’ it for fifty yards after the others had lost sight of it. Beil took the range, and was silent fully a minute while he did so, ‘‘That bee may have lighted in the corner of yonder swamp,” he said, pointing, as he spoke, to a bit of low laud that sustained a growth of much larger trees than those which grew in the “opening,” “or it has crossed the point of the wood, and struck across the prairie beyond, and made for a bit of thick forest that is to be found about three miles further. In the last case I shall have my trouble for nothing.” “What t'other do TANARUS” demanded Elksfoot, ..with very obvious curiosity. ■k“ Sure enough ; the other gentleman must be nearly ready for a start, and we’ll see what mad he travels. ’Tis always an assistance to be a bee-hunter to get one creature fairly off, as it helps him to line the next with great er certainty.” Ben would say ac iyve, and sartain, though he was above saying creatoore, or creatui. — This is the difference between a Pennsylva nian and a Yankee. We shall not stop, however, to note all these little peculiarities in these individuals, but use the proper or the peculiar dialect, as may happen to be most convenient to ourselves. But there was no time for disquisition, the second bee now being ready for a start. Like his companion, this insect rose and encircled the stump several times, cre it darted away towards its hive, in an air-line. So small was the object, and so rapid its movement, that no one but the bee-hunter saw the ani mal after it had begun its journey in earnest. To his disappointment, instead of flying in the same direction as the bee first taken, this little fellow went buzzing off, fairly at a right angle! It was consequently clear that there were two hives, and that they lay in very dif ferent directions. Without wasting his time in useless talk, Le Bourdon now caught another bee, which was subjected to the same process as those first taken. —When this creature had filled it self, it rose, circled the stump as usual, as if to note the spot for a second visit, and darted away, directly in a line with the bee first ta ken. Ben noted its flight most accurately, and had his eye on it, until it was quite a hundred yards from the stump. This he was enabled to do, by means of a quick sight and long practice. “ We’ll move our quarters, friends,” said Buzzing Ben, good-humoredly, as soon as satisfied, with this last observation, and gath ering together his traps for a start. “ I must angle for that hive and I fear it will turn out to be across the prairie, and quite beyond my reach for to-aay.” The prairie alluded to was one of those small natural meadows, or pastures, that are to be found in Michigan, and may have con tained four or five thousand acres open land. The heavy timber of the swamp mentioned, jutted into it, and the point to be determined was to ascertain whether the bees had flown over these trees, towards which they had cer tainly gone in an air-line, or whether they had found their hive among them. In order to settle this material question, anew pro cess was necessary. • “ I must “angle” for them chaps,” repeat ed Le Bourdon ; “and if you will go with tne, strangers, you shall soon see the nicest part of the business of bee-hunting. Many a man who can 1 line ’ a bee, can do nothing at an ‘angle.” As this was only gibberish to the listeners, no answer was made, but all prepared to fol low Ben, who was soon ready to change his ground. The bee-hunter took his way across the open ground to a point fully a hundred tods distant from his first position, where he found another stump of a fallen tree, which he converted into a stand. The same pro cess was gone through with as before, and Le bourdon was soon watching two bees that had plunged their heads down into the cells of the comb. Nothing could exceed the gravity and attention of the Indians all this time. They had fully comprehended the bu siness of “lining” the insects towards their hives, but they could not understand the vir- g®©iri2{si&iEi a, ats& &is y ©asbit it s • tue of the “angle.” The first bore so strong ! an affinity to their own pursuit of game, as , to be very obvious to their senses; but the last included a species of information to ! which they were total strangers. Nor were • they much the wiser after Le Bourdon had taken his “angle ;” it required a sort of in- 1 duction to which they were not accustomed, j in order to put the several parts of his pro ceedings together, and to draw the inference. As for Gerehom, he affected to be familiar with all that was going on, though he was just as ignorant as the Indians themselves. This little bit of hypocrisy w’as the homage he paid to his while blood —it being very un seemly, according to his view of the matter, for a pale face not to know more than a red skin. The bees were some little time in filling themselves. At length one of them came out of his cell, and was evidently getting ready for his flight. Ben beckoned to the specta tors to stand farther hack, in order to give him a fair chance, and, just as he has dorre so, the bee rose. After humming around the stump for an instant, away the insect fiexv, taking a course almost at right angles to that in which Le Bourdon had expected to see it fly. It required half a minute for him to re collect that this little creature had gone off in a line nearly parallel to that which had been taken by the second of the bees, which he had seen quit his original position. The line led across the neighboring prairie, and any attempt to follow these was hopeless. But the second cieature w T as also soon rea dy, and when it darted away, Le Bourdon, to his manifest delight, saw that it held its flight towards the point of the swamp, into or over which two of his first captives had also gone. This settled the doubtful matter. Had the 1 hive of these bees been beyond that wood, the angle of intersection would not have been there, but at the hive across the prairie. The reader will understand that creatures which obey an instinct, or such a reason as bees possess, would never make a curvature in their flights without some strong motive for it. Thus, two bees taken from flowers that stood half a mile apart, would be certain not to cross each other’s tracks, in returning home, until they met at the common hive; and wherever the intersecting angle in iheir respective flights might be, there would that hive be also. As this repository of sweets was the game Le Bourdon had in view, it is easy to see how much he was pleased when the direction taken by the last of his bees gave him the necessary assurance that its home would certainly be found in that very point of dense wood. The next thing was to ascertain which was the particular tree in which the bees had found a shelter. Collecting his implements, Le Bourdon was soon ready, and, with a light elastic tread, he moved off towards the point of the wood, followed by the whole party. The distance was about half a mile, and men so much accustomed to use their limbs made light of it. In a few minutes all were there, and the bee-hunter was busy in looking for his tree. This was the consummation of the whole process, and Ben w T as not only provi ded for the necessitiesof the case, but he was well skilled in all the signs that betokened the abodes of bees. An uninstructed person might have passed that point of wood a thousand times, without ; the least consciousness of the presence of a single insect of the sort now searched for. In general, the bees flew too high to be easily perceptible from the ground, though a prac tised eye can discern them at distances that would almost seem to be marvellous. But Ben had other assistants than his eyes. He knew that the tree he sought must be hollow, and such trees usually give outward signs of the defect that exists within. Then, some species of w r ood are more frequented by the bees than others, while the instinct of the in dustrious little creature generally enables them to select such homes as will not be very likely to destroy all the fruits of their indus try by an untimely fall, in all these par ticulars, both bees and bee-hunter were well versed, and Ben made his search accordingly. Among the other implements of his calling, Le Bourdon had a small spy-glass —one scarcely larger than those that are used in theatres, but which was powerful and every, w r ay suited to its purposes. Ben was not long in selecting a tree, a half decayed elm, as the one likely to contain the hive: and by j the aid of his glass, ho soon saw bees flying among its dying branches, at a height of not less than seventy feet from the ground. A j little further search directed his attention to a knot-hole, in and out of which the glass ena bled him to see bees passing in stream*. This ; decided the point; and putting aside all his j implements but the axe, Buzzing Ben now : set about the task of felling the tree. “ Stranger ,” said Gershom. when Le Bour- don had taken out the first chip, “ perhaps you’d better let me do that part of the job. I shall expect to come in for a share of the honey, and I’m w illing to ’am all I take. I was brought up on axes, and jack-knives, and sich sort of food, and can cut or whittle with the best chopper or the neatest whittler in or out of New England.” “You can try your hand, if you wish it.” said Ben, relinquishing ihe axe. “ l can fell a tree as well as yourself, but have no such love for the business as to w ish to keep it all to myself.” “ Waal, I can say, I like it,” answered Ger shom, first passing his thumb along the edge of the axe. in order to ascertain itsstate, then swinging the tool with a view to try its ‘hang.’ “Ican’t say much for your axe, stranger , for this helve has no tarve to’t, to my mind ; but, sich as it is, dow’n must come this elm, though ten millions of bees should set upon me for my pains.” This w T as no idle boast of Waring’s.— Worthless as he w’as in so many respects, he was remarkably skilful with the axe, as he now proved by the rapid manner in which he severed the trunk of the large elm on which he was at work. He inquired of Ben where he should “lay the tree,” and when it came clattering down, it fell on the precise spot in dicated. Great was the confusion among the bees at this sudden down-fall of their long cherished home. The fact was not known to their enemy, but they had inhabited that tree for a long time; and the prize now ob tained was the richest he had ever made in his calling. As for the insects, they filled the air in clouds, and all the invaders deemed it prudent to withdraw to some little distance for a time, lest the irritated and wronged bees should set upon them and take an ample re venge. Had they known their power, this might easily have been done, no ingenuity of man being able to protect him against the as saults of this insignificant-looking animal, when unable to cover himself, and the angry little heroes are in earnest. On the present occasion, however, no harm befel the marau ders. So suddenly had the hive tumbled, that its late occupants appeared to be aston ished, and they submitted to their fate as men yield to the power of tempests and earth quakes. In half an hour most of them were collected on an adjacent tree, where doubtless a consultation on the mode of future proceed ings was held after their fashion. The Indians were more delighted with Le Bourdon’s ingenious mode of discovering the hive than with the richness of the prize; while Ben himself, and Gershom, manifested most satisfaction at the amount of the earn ings. When the tree was cut in pieces, and split, it was ascertained that years of sweets were contained within its capacious cavities, and Ben estimated the portion that fell to his share at more than three hundred pounds of good honey, comb included, after deducting the portions that were given to the Indians, and which were abstracted by Gershom. — The three last, however, could carry but lit tle, as they had no other means of bearing it away than their own backs. Southern (Eclectic. THE DEAD SEA EXPEDITION. The Southern Literary Messenger for Sep tember has a very valuable article from the pen of Lieut. Maury, detailing the results of the late Exploring Expedition to the Dead Sea. The article is too long for our pages, and we therefore avail ourselves of an abstract of it prepared for the Richmond Republican.—[Ed. Lieutenant Maury gives a history of this expedition, brief but lucid, and which in creases the anxiety of the public mind to see the report of Lieutenant Maury, who has made a successful survey, and who, we are glad to learn, is expected soon to return to this country. We learn from Lieutenant Maury's article that this expedition was planned by Lieuten ant Lynch, and authorized by Secretary Ma son. In the Spring of 1847, Lieut. Lynch first addressed the Secretary on the subject, recommending a circumnavigation and explo ration of the Dead Sea and its entire coast — stating that the expense would be trifling, as our ships frequently touched at Acre, in Sy ria, forty miles from Lake Tiberius or Sea of Galilee, from which the River Jordan runs and debouches into the first-named sea; that the frame of a boat with crew and provisions, could be transported on camels from Acre to Tiberius, and there put together again. Only one traveller, Mr. Cortigan, had ever circum navigated the Dead Sea, and he had died at the termination of his voyage, without leav- ing any journal or notes behind. It was contended also, that, independent of the eager curiosity of all Christendom in regard to this mysterious lake, this expedition is of value to the interests of navigation. The Secretary of the Navy received favor ably the proposition of Lieut. Lynch, and an opportunity soon occurred by which it could be convenientily caried into effect. It was necessary to send a store-ship to the Mediter ranean squadron, and as, after her arrival, she would have no employment for months, the Secretary determined to send Lieut. Lynch and his party in her; so that after meeting the wants of the squadron, she could proceed up the Levant, anti land Lieut. Lynch and his companions. This was done. The store ship “Supply” was provided with two me tallic boats, one of copper, the other of iron ; the former named “Fanny Mason,” and the latter “ Fanny Skinner.” On their arrival at their destination their troubles began, and in their march to Lake Tiberius their boats had to be transported over the most formidable mountain gorges and heights, and to be low ered down precipices with ropes. But these difficulties were surmounted with true sailor skill and perseverance, and on the Bth of April the two Fannies, each with the Ameii can ensign flying, weie afloat upon the beau tiful blue waters of the Sea of Galilee. “Em blematic of its Master, it alone of all things around them remained the same. Just as the Apostles saw it, when our Saviour said to it, ‘ Peace, be still!’ this little band of rovers now beheld it.” The navigation of the Jordan was found to be most difficult and dangerous, from its fre quent and fearful rapids. Lieut. Lynch solves the secret of the depression between Lake Ti berias and the Dead Sea, by the tortuous course of the Jordan, which, in a distance of sixty miles, winds through a course of two hundred miles. Within this distance, Lieut. Lynch and his party plunged down no less than twenty-seven threatening rapids, besides many others of less descent. The difference of level between the two seas is over a thou sand feet. The water of the Jordan was sweet to within a few hundred yards of its mouth.— The waters of the sea were devoid of smell, but bitter, salt, and nauseous. Upon entering it, the boats were encountered by a gale, and “it seemed as if the bows, so dense icas the water , were encountering the sledge-hammers of the Titans instead of the opposing waves of an angry sea.” The pary proceeded dai ly with their explorations, making topograph ical sketches as they went, until they reached the southern extremity of the Sea, where the most wonderful sight that they had yet seen awaited them. “In passing the mountain of Uzdom (So dom), we unexpectedly, and much to our as tonishment,” says Lieut. Lynch, “saw a large, rounded, turret-shaped column, facing towards south-east, which proved to be of solid rock salt, capped with carbonate of lime, one mass of crystallization. Mr. Dale took a sketch of it, and Dr. Anderson and 1 landed with much difficulty and procured specimens from it.” The party circumnavigated the lake, re turned to their pace of departure, and brought back their boats in, as complete order as tney received them at New York. They were all in fine health. This is a specimen of the skill, system, and discipline of the American navy. No nation in the woffd has such a service. The time is coming when it will give proofs of that fact palpable to the most dull understanding. Thanks to the good management of Lieut. Lynch, the whole cost of this scientific exploration of the Dead Sea, (except, of course, the cost of the equipage and maintenance of the crew of the ship,) was but seven hundred dollars. From the letters of Lieutenant Lynch, quoted by Lieutenant Maury, we transcribe the fol lowing interesting facts elicited by the explo rations : “ The bottom of the northern half of this sea is almost an entire plain. Its meridianal lines at a short distance from the shore scarce vary in depth. The deepest soundings thus far is 188 fathoms, (1,128 feet.) Near the shore the bottom is generally an incrustation of salt, but the intermediate one is soft mud, with many rectangular crystals —mostly cubes —of pure salt. At one time, Stellwagers lead brought up nothing but crystals. The southern half of the sea is as shallow as the northern one is deep, for about one-fourth of its entire length, the depth does not exceed three fathoms, (18 feet.) Its southern bed has presented no crystals, hut the shores are lined with incrustations of salt, and when we landed at Uzdom, in the space of an hour, our foot-prints were coated with crystalliza tion. The opposite shores of the peninsula and the west coast present evident marks of disruption. There are unquestionably birds and insects upon the shores, and ducks are 171