xi THE NDOROBO 135 



still whistling loudly, proceeded to the tree which held 

 the hive. In a few minutes he returned, none the 

 worse for his venture, and we were able to fetch our 

 loads. 



Almost all travellers in East Africa have had un- 

 pleasant experiences with bees. Profiting by experience, 

 caravans, when passing in the near neighbourhood of 

 trees containing bee hives or honey-barrels, observe 

 strict silence, for bees resent noises and quickly put a 

 company of naked porters to flight. 



The poison used by the Ndorobo for their arrows and 

 spears is obtained by boiling the leaves and branches of 

 Acocanthera Schimperi for several hours ; the liquid is 

 strained and then reboiled until it is thick, viscid, and 

 like pitch. It is kept in sheets of bark for use. The 

 poison is very powerful, for when a beast has been shot 

 with a poisoned arrow it dies quickly. (Johnston.) 



An official who has seen a great deal of the Ndorobo 

 informed me that on one occasion two men were 

 quarrelling, and one of them held his spear in such a 

 threatening attitude that the other seized it with his 

 hand and received a wound in the palm. The wounded 

 man died in a few minutes with symptoms similar to 

 those produced by a poisonous dose of strychnia. The 

 poison will quickly destroy an antelope or a buffalo. 



A. H. Neumann records the case of an Ndorobo who 

 was unable to get within striking distance of an ele- 

 phant, so he sat down and chewed tobacco ; on getting 

 up to renew the chase he scratched his leg against the 

 poisoned point of a dart " and died right away." 



They obtain fire by means of a fire-stick and drill. 

 The apparatus consists of a soft piece of wood which 

 rests upon the ground and is usually known as the 

 fire-stick : it is furnished with rounded slots, and in the 

 edge of each slot there is a recess in which the dust 

 made by the drill accumulates. The end of a round 

 stick of hard wood known as the drill, or twirling stick, 

 is placed in one of the slots and made to revolve rapidly 



