Chap. VI. VEGETABLE POISON. 113 



the water, I found that it increased at the rate of a quarter of an 

 inch in diameter annually during a number of years. Moreover 

 the larger specimens, which now find few or no successors, if they 

 had more rain in their youth, cannot be above two or three 

 hundred years old. 



It is probable that this is the tree of which the Ark of the 

 Covenant and the Tabernacle were constructed, as it is reported to 

 be found where the Israelites were at the time these were made. 

 It is an imperishable wood, while that usually pointed out as the 

 '• shittim" (or Acacia niloticd) soon decays and wants beauty. 



In association with it we always observe a curious plant, named 

 ngotuane, which bears such a profusion of fine yellow strong- 

 scented flowers as quite to perfume the air. This plant forms a 

 remarkable exception to the general rule, that nearly all the plants 

 in the dry parts of Africa are scentless or emit only a disagree- 

 able odour. It, moreover, contains an active poison ; a French 

 gentleman, having imbibed a moutliful or two of an infusion 

 of its flowers as tea, found himself rendered nearly powerless. 

 Vinegar has the peculiar property of rendering this poison per- 

 fectly inert, whether in or out of the body. When mixed with 

 vinegar, the poison may be drunk with safety, while, if only 

 tasted by itself, it causes a burning sensation in the throat. 

 This gentleman described the action of the vinegar, when he was 

 nearly deprived of power by the poison imbibed, to have been as 

 if electricity had run along his nerves as soon as he had taken a 

 single glassful. The cure was instantaneous and complete. I 

 had always to regret want of opportunity for investigating this 

 remarkable and yet controllable agent on the nervous system. 

 Its usual proximity to camel-thom trees may be accounted for 

 by the probability that the giraffe, which feeds on this tree, may 

 make use of the plant as a medicine. 



"During the period of my visit at Kuruman, Mr. Moffat, who 

 has been a missionary in Africa during upwards of forty years, 

 and is well known by his interesting work, ' Scenes and Labours 

 in South Africa,' was busily engaged in carrying through the press, 

 with which his station is furnished, the Bible hi the language of the 

 Bechuanas, which is called Sichuana. This has been a work of 

 immense labour ; and as he was the first to reduce their speech to a 

 written form, and has had his attention directed to the study for 



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