soAiJ-: X()ri-:s ux khouksiax xatix'e poisoxs. 



By F<ev. Samuel S. Dornan, M.A., F.O.S. 



Tlie discovery of poison by primitive man was probably 

 accidental. The death of a jjerson by snake bite, or by eating 

 poisonints fruit or berries, would naturally sug<;jest to man that 

 certain animals and plants were dangerous, and therefore to be 

 avoided. Indeed, so far as some of the natives of South Africa 

 are concerned, this seems to have been the case, as the following 

 tale related by the Zulus shows. 



" The first woman that Unkulunkulu produced had a child 

 before any of the other women. Another woman who saw her 

 with the child was jealous. Iiated her. and wished to poison her. 

 She looked about her for some plant that was poisonous; she 

 saw the Amabele, which at that time was not cultivated, but grew 

 wild like grass. .She plucked the seeds and gave them to the 

 woman. She watched. exj)ecting to see her die ; but she did 

 not die as she ho])ed. but instead of that grew- cjuite fat and 

 rice. At length she asked the woman if the Amabele was nice, 

 and she replied. ' (Juitc nice." And from that time the women 

 culti\ated Amaliele, anil it became an article of food." There i> 

 also a somewhat similar tale regarding the discovery and use of 

 pumijkins. which relate'^ that a woman troubled with the inces- 

 sant crying of lier child. ga\e him pum])kins, thinking they were 

 poison, and that he would die; but he got cjtiite fat on them. 



Mankind thus discovered i)oisonous and other i)lants by trial. 

 But to take the further >tep of using such i)lants for medicinal 

 or other purposes, in\-olves a much larger mental i)rocess. and 

 probably a very much longer time. 



The natives of South Africa lia\c r|uite an extensive know- 

 ledj^c of jxiisons, both animal and \cgetable. but i)rincipally the 

 latter, and make various uses of them, but mostly for the fol- 

 lowing i)uri)oses: (a) Vor war and the chase: ( /' ) religion-^ 

 and judicial; (c) criminal and medicinal. 



The emploNUient of i)oisons for warfare and hunting is 

 largely confined to the \ arious Bushmen tribes. It is said that 

 the Korannas and some IJechuruia tribes obtained their knowledge 

 of i)oisoned arrows fri>ni the lUislimen. ])nt I ]ia\e ne\er known: 

 anv of the Bechuana irii)es to use bows and arrows either foi" 

 hunting or warfare, though in olden times thev may have d(Mie 

 so. 'i'he Ijuslinien rcgularix emplo\ed i)oison of a potent and 

 deadly charactt'r to smear tlieir arrows witli. The arrows are 

 made of reed, and the i)oints <>f liard wood, usually tii)ped with 

 stone or bone. Thex were (juite separate. The sliaft was about 

 iS inches in length. ;ind tlie point abotit 4 inches. !^ojiie points 

 I have -ecn seemed to nu- to l)e made of " mo])ane '" (Copaifcra 

 mopotic]. The point \\a> sunietinio stuck in the hollow shaft, 

 which was bound round with gut to prevent splitting, but gener- 

 ally it was fixed lirml\ with a sort of wax. or tied with sinew. 

 The poi"^on wa^ smeared o\ cr tlie point pretty thickly and al- 



