Chap. VI. VEGETABLE POISON. 77 



thorns are felled in the proximity of a Bechuana village no 

 successors spring up. It is probable that this is the tree of 

 which the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle were con- 

 structed, as it is reported to be found on the spot where the 

 Israelites were at the time these were made. It is an im- 

 perishable wood, while that which is usually supposed to have 

 been the "shittim" (Acacia niloticd) wants beauty, and soon 

 decays. 



In company with the camel-thorn we find a curious plant, 

 named ngotuane, which bears a profusion of fine yellow flowers, 

 and which have so strong a scent that they perfume the air. 

 Nearly all the other plants in the dry parts of Africa have 

 either no smell or else emit a disagreeable odour. The 

 ngotuane contains an active poison, and a mere taste of it causes 

 a burning sensation in the throat. A French gentleman, 

 having drunk a mouthful or two of an infusion of its flowers 

 as tea, w T as rendered nearly powerless. The poison is neu- 

 tralized when mixed with vinegar. A single glassful of this 

 antidote proved with the Frenchman a complete and instan- 

 taneous cure. As soon as he had taken it he felt, he said, as 

 if electricity had run along his nerves. The usual proximity 

 of the ngotuane to the oamel- thorn may be accounted for by 

 the probability that the giraffe, which feeds on the tree, makes 

 use of the plant as a medicine. 



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

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

 engaged in carrying the Bible, in the language of the Bechu- 

 anas, through the press at his station. As he was the first to 

 reduce their speech — Avhich is called Sichuana — to a written 

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

 years, he may be supposed to be better adapted for the task 

 than any man living. The comprehensive meaning of the 

 terms in this tongue may be inferred from the fact that there 

 are fewer words in the Pentateuch in Mr. Moffat's translation 

 than in the Greek Septuagint, and far less than in our English 

 version. It is fortunate that the task has been completed 

 before the language became adulterated with half-uttered 

 foreign words, and while those who have heard the eloquence 

 of the native assemblies are still living. The young who are 

 brought up in our schools know less of the tongue than the 



