STUNG BY A SCORPION. 297 



tion, I looked at it very seriously for a few moments, 

 with all the contentment of despair ; the loss of all 

 hope had made me more tranquil than in my moral 

 philosophy I had ever conceived would have been 

 the case. The pain, however, like sharp rheumatic 

 touches, soon called me back to reasonable expres- 

 sion, and excessive suffering made me stamp again, 

 causing Zaido and the others to laugh immoderately. 

 They made chase, however, after the reptile, which 

 was hastily running off, with his tail curved high 

 over his back, and sting displayed, in a high state 

 of irritation, no doubt. It was very soon stopped 

 by one of the Allees dropping, after several attempts, 

 the butt-end of his spear upon it, and holding it 

 down till Zaido, with the nail-passer, had amputated 

 the last joint of the tail, which supported the sting. 

 He then took the animal up, tore it ruthlessly into 

 two pieces, and began to rub the wound in my 

 hand, with the ichorous-looking juice which, instead 

 of blood, appears to circulate through the animal. 

 I was also comforted in my mind by assurances that 

 all would be well in an hour, for the knife, as my 

 friends called the sting, was a very small one. 



I learnt from this occurrence, that the Dankalli 

 do not consider the sting of the scorpion of their 

 country dangerous, and it is well that it is not so, 

 for they are found in any quantity underneath every 

 large stone. Sometimes on rolling one over, in the 

 shallow depression of the ground, I have noticed 

 the entrance to a nest of these nauseous-looking 



