148 POISONED ARROWS. 



amidst mountains and inaccessible rocks ; they sub- 

 sist on bulbous roots, reptiles, locusts, and the larvae 

 of ants. I have heard it remarked by those who, 

 from a long residence among them, have become 

 familiar with their manners and habits of life, that 

 the only species of food they nauseate or reject 

 is the flesh of the vulture and hyaena. 



They are of low stature, four feet six inches being 

 the average height of the men, and about four feet 

 that of the women. Their only covering consists of 

 a dirty sheep-skin kaross flung over the shoulder. 

 They are usually armed with a javelin or assagai, 

 and a bow with poisoned arrows. The quiver which 

 contains their arrows is made of the trunk of a small 

 tree, and is suspended at their back. They some- 

 times place their arrows round their brows — it has 

 been said to strike terror into their enemies, as well 

 as for the convenience of immediate use. These 

 weapons are about two feet long, formed of a slender 

 reed, at the top of which is fixed a slight piece of 

 the leg-bone of the ostrich, three or four inches in 

 length ; and on this is fastened a sharp iron point, 

 barbed, and covered with the most deadly poison ; an 

 inch below the point are fastened, transversely, two 

 pieces of sharp-pointed quill, forming a second barb, 

 which not only renders the weapon more difficult to 

 extract, but, by lacerating the flesh, causes a greater 

 absorption of the poison. This they obtain from 

 plants indigenous to the country, as well as from 



