WEAPONS OF THE BOSJESMAN. 63 



Such poisons are of different kinds, and invariably animal or 

 vegetable in their origin. Taking the animal poisons first, we 

 come to the curious mode of poisoning the Malayan dagger, or 

 " Kris." The blade of the weapon is not smooth, but is forged 

 from very fibrous steel, and then laid in strong acid until it is 

 covered with multitudinous grooves, some of them being often 

 so deep that the acid has eaten its way completely through the 

 blade. 



Among some tribes the kris is poisoned by being thrust into 

 a putrefying human body, and allowed to remain there until 

 the grooves are filled with the decaying matter. It is also said 

 that if the kris be similarly plunged into the thick stem that 

 grows just at the base of the pine-apple, the result is nearly the 

 same. 



As a rule, however, the Arrow is generally the weapon which 

 is poisoned, and a few examples will be mentioned of each kind 

 of poisoning. 



The two most formidable animal poisons are those which are 

 made by the Bosjesmans of Southern Africa. Their bows are 

 but toys, and their arrows only slender reeds. But they arm 

 these apparently insignificant weapons with poison so potent, 

 that even the brave and bellicose Kafir warrior does not like to 

 fight a Bosjesman, though he be protected by his enormous shield. 



There are two kinds of animal poison used by the Bosjesmans. 

 The first is made from the secretion of the poison-glands of the 

 cobra, puff-adder, and cerastes. Knowing the sluggish nature 

 of snakes in general, the Bosjesman kills them in a very simple 

 manner. He steals cautiously towards the serpent, boldly sets 

 his foot upon its neck, and cuts off its head. The body makes 

 a dainty feast for him, and the head is soon opened, and the 

 poison-glands removed. 



By itself, the poison would not adhere to the point of the 

 weapon, and so it is mixed with the gummy juice of certain 

 euphorbias, until it attains a pitch-like consistency. It is then 

 laid thickly upon the bone point of the arrow, and a little strip 

 of quill is stuck into it like a barb. The object of the quill is, 

 that if a man, or even an animal, be wounded, and the arrow 

 torn away, the quill remains in the wound, retaining sufficient 

 poison to insure death. I have a quiverful of such arrows in 

 my collection. 



