Chap. XVIII. A HALT. 361 



ground covered with a few bushes and trdl trees, 

 with magnificent crowns of foHage, towering* up at 

 intervals of twenty to fifty yards from each other. 

 The open nature of the forest very much improved 

 our chances of escape ; for we were enabled to see 

 our enemy at a distance, and were not in danger of 

 being out-flanked. The country was very rugged, 

 hill succeeded hill, and sometimes the slopes were 

 very steep. 



We now breathed more freely. We halted, laid 

 down our loads and rested, keeping a sharp look-out 

 at the same time. I examined Igala's wound and 

 my own. The blood had run very copiously from 

 my finger, and my clothes were quite saturated 

 with it ; but the flow of blood appeared to have 

 carried off the poison, for I felt no further ill effect 

 from the wound except the pain, and it was healed 

 in about three weeks afterwards. The action of the 

 poison used by the natives is not very rapid ; it 

 causes corruption of the flesh around the wound, dis- 

 charge of matter, and eventually gangrene ; when an 

 arrow or spear penetrates into the bowels, death is, 

 of course, certain to ensue, but if the wound is only 

 an external one it is very seldom fatal. The arrow- 

 head which had pierced my side was found, when 

 wrenched from the wound, to have been poisoned ; 

 but the coating of poison had been fortunately scraped 

 off it in passing through the leather, and my wound, 

 though extremely painful, was not a dangerous one, 

 Igala's wound was still very painful ; indeed towards 

 night it got much worse, and I w^as afraid he would 



become lame. I had no medicine to give him, for 

 25 



