106 ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



able item in the Bushman's cuisine, and the shells are 

 converted into water-flasks, cups, and dishes. I have 

 often seen Bushgirls and Bakalahari women, who be- 

 longs to the wanderins^ Bechuana tribes of the Kalahari 

 desert, come down to the fountains from their remote 

 habitations, sometimes situated at an amazing distance, 

 each carrying on her back a kaross or a net- work con- 

 taining from twelve to fifteen ostrich egg-shells, which 

 had been emptied by a small aperture at one end : these 

 they fill with water, and cork up the hole with grass. 

 • A favorite method adopted by the wild Bushman for 

 approaching the ostrich and other varieties of game is 

 to clothe himself in the skin of one of these birds, in 

 which, taking care of the wind, he stalks about the 

 plain, cunningly imitating the gait and motions of the 

 ostrich until within range, when, with a well-directed 

 poisoned arrow from his tiny bow, he can generally seal 

 the fate of any of the ordinary varieties of game. These 

 insignificant-looking arrows are about two feet six inch- 

 es in length ; they consist of a slender reed, with a 

 sharp bone head, thoroughly poisoned with a composi- 

 tion, of which the principal ingredients are obtained 

 sometimes from a succulent herb, having thick leaves, 

 yielding a poisonous milky juice, and sometimes from 

 the jaws of snakes. The bow barely exceeds three feet 

 in length ; its string is of twisted sinews. When a 

 Bushman finds an ostrich's nest, he ensconces himself 

 in it, and there awaits the return of the old birds, by 

 which means he generally secures the pair. It is by 

 means of these little arrows that the majority of the 

 fine plumes are obtained which grace the heads of the 

 fair throughout the civilized world. 



It was now the height of summer, and every day 

 the heat of the snn was terrific, hut there was gen- 



