XXVII 
THE GENTLE ART OF POISONING 
247 
this poison, to procure which, the tree itself is burnt 
and the ashes mixed with water. This mixture is 
then boiled down until it is highly concentrated and 
of the consistency of thick paste, when it is ready 
for use. Native hunters use it for poisoning the 
bullets which they fire from their muzzle-loaders. 
First, they dip the bullet in the poisonous paste, 
then, to keep the poison in place, bind the missile 
with very fine twine, and dip it at once in boiling 
bees-wax. When such a bullet penetrates game, a 
certain amount of the poison is naturally carried 
into the animal, and I can only ascribe the huge 
scars that I have at times discovered on elephants 
that I have shot to the brutally cruel effect of these 
poisoned projectiles. The natives say that neither 
moths nor snakes will venture near this deadly tree 
and that birds never rest in its branches. 
