xxvii THE GENTLE ART OF POISONING 247 



this poison, to procure which, the tree itself is burnt 

 and the ashes mixed with water. This mixture is 

 then boiled down until it is highly concentrated and 

 of the consistency of thick paste, when it is ready 

 for use. Native hunters use it for poisoning the 

 bullets which they fire from their muzzle-loaders. 

 First, they dip the bullet in the poisonous paste, 

 then, to keep the poison in place, bind the missile 

 with very fine twine, and dip it at once in boiling 

 bees-wax. When such a bullet penetrates game, a 

 certain amount of the poison is naturally carried 

 into the animal, and I can only ascribe the huge 

 scars that I have at times discovered on elephants 

 that I have shot to the brutally cruel effect of these 

 poisoned projectiles. The natives say that neither 

 moths nor snakes will venture near this deadly tree 

 and that birds never rest in its branches. 



