XI 
THE NDOROBO 
135 
still whistling loudly, proceeded to the tree which held 
the hive. In a few minutes he returned, none the 
worse for his venture, and we were able to fetch our 
loads. 
Almost all travellers in East Africa have had un¬ 
pleasant experiences with bees. Profiting by experience, 
caravans, when passing in the near neighbourhood of 
trees containing bee hives or honey-barrels, observe 
strict silence, for bees resent noises and quickly put a 
company of naked porters to flight. 
The poison used by the Ndorobo for their arrows and 
spears is obtained by boiling the leaves and branches of 
Acocanthera Schimperi for several hours ; the liquid is 
strained and then reboiled until it is thick, viscid, and 
like pitch. It is kept in sheets of bark for use. The 
poison is very powerful, for when a beast has been shot 
with a poisoned arrow it dies quickly. (Johnston.) 
An official who has seen a great deal of the Ndorobo 
informed me that on one occasion two men were 
quarrelling, and one of them held his spear in such a 
threatening attitude that the other seized it with his 
hand and received a wound in the palm. The wounded 
man died in a few minutes with symptoms similar to 
those produced by a poisonous dose of strychnia. The 
poison will quickly destroy an antelope or a buffalo. 
A. H. Neumann records the case of an Ndorobo who 
was unable to get within striking distance of an ele¬ 
phant, so he sat down and chewed tobacco ; on getting 
up to renew the chase he scratched his leg against the 
poisoned point of a dart ‘‘ and died right away.” 
They obtain fire by means of a fire-stick and drill. 
The apparatus consists of a soft piece of wood which 
rests upon the ground and is usually known as the 
fire-stick : it is furnished with rounded slots, and in the 
edge of each slot there is a recess in which the dust 
made by the drill accumulates. The end of a round 
stick of hard wood known as the drill, or twirling stick, 
is placed in one of the slots and made to revolve rapidly 
