Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 29.djvu/642

624 lioness is not incapable of doing mischief, and so William thought, for at only a few paces he administered the coup de grace, aimed in the region of the ear, which put a favorable termination to a short but very exciting scene.

My new acquaintances, I learned, were herdsmen of Lubengulo, King of the Matebeles, who, when driving their cattle up, to kraal them for the night, disturbed a lioness; a Bushman who was with them fired at her a poisoned arrrow,arrow, [sic] which, it was believed, had taken effect. As a scratch from one of these pygmy weapons is almost certain to produce death in a few hours, my new friends had gone at break of day to search for their anticipated prey, but, losing the trail and making sundry efforts to regain it, they unexpectedly discovered the youngsters in a hole scooped in the bank of a dry water-course, which they at once secured.

Fortunately, they encountered us when they did, or Madame la Mère would have made them regret their temerity. On examining the lioness, no indication that she had been struck by the arrow of the Bushman was to be seen; either the bowman had missed her or this was not the animal he had shot at. A couple of pounds of gunpowder and four bars of lead were treasures too valuable for natives to refuse, so Leo and Juno became my property. The herdsmen, not satisfied with the discovery that the killed lioness was not wounded with the Bushman's arrow, renewed their search, and in the course of the day, on their return to their kraals, passed my encampment bearing a newly taken hide, satisfactory evidence of the rapid and fearful certainty of the virus with which they anoint the points of their diminutive weapons.

There are several poisons in use among the aboriginal tribes of Southern Africa, but that extracted from a caterpillar, and designated by the natives "mangue," is the most fatal. The pain which the victims suffer who have been inoculated with it must be fearful indeed; but it is not long endured, for two or three hours generally put an end to the stricken animal's existence. Of course, this time is more or less protracted by the size of the wound, the locality in which it is situated, and the quantity of the venom used; for instance, on one of the tributaries of the Zambesi, a lioness that had been wounded at sundown did not expire till the following daybreak, during all which time the cries of anguish that she kept repeating, terribly told how fearfully the poor creature was suffering. On examination, this victim of the poisoned arrow only had a slight puncture beneath the skin close to the flank, but the firmness of the hide had prevented the missile from falling from the wound.

As the habits of semi-barbarous people always possess great interest for me, I trust they do so for my readers, and I will therefore describe the two other poisons in use among the Bush-people, and the manner in which they are employed to serve their purpose. First, I will