CHAP. IX.] POISONED ARROWS. • 287 



wounded by poisoned arrows, and have dressed their 

 wounds, but saw no great harm experienced from them. 

 The poison becomes so hard and dry on the arrows 

 that it will not dissolve. The Bushman poison is far 

 stronger and more complicated ; the manufacture of it 

 is kept secret, but many ingredients are put into the 

 composition. Beside vegetable poisons the Bushmen 

 assured me that the poisonous black spider (a kind of 

 tarantula) is an important ingredient. It seems to be 

 for its size, the most venomous of creatui-es. Death 

 is very frequently the consequence of its bite. Amiral's 

 son, who was with me, had lingered between life and 

 death for a long time after having been bit by one, and 

 his escape was considered as a singular piece of good 

 fortune. I saw one once ; it happened to be among 

 my bed clothes, and was a nasty creature with huge 

 nippers ; though a very quick runner it had compara- 

 tively short legs. When I teased it with a little twig 

 it snapped its nippers together and made quite a noise 

 with them. 



Throughout our journey we have had great good 

 luck as regards poisonous animals, nobody but Timboo 

 having been bitten, and that only by a scorpion, but 

 we suffered pretty severely from hornet's stings, both 

 at Otjimbingue and elsewhere ; the oO. from our tobacco 

 pipes was the panacea in all these cases. 



