Shifts and expedients of camp life, travel & exploration

by William Barry Lord; Thomas Baines

In applying this poison to their arrows, the Bushmen collect a number of the cocoons, which they lay near them on a skin, a leaf, or on a sandal; they break one of these, and, taking out the grub, hold it between the thumb and forefinger, and squeeze the entrails, or rather the internal juices, in small drops upon the arrow head, which is then carefully laid upon any extemporised rest to dry in the sun, much as an artist lays his brushes on something that will keep the hair from contact with anything capable of giving or receiving damage from the colour with which they are charged. They take the greatest possible care not to let these juices come in contact with any cut or sore, or abrasion of the skin, for they would in such case produce the same excruciating agony that is inflicted upon a wounded animal; and it is said that a man with a wound, however slight, so infected, would become a maniac, and would probably destroy himself in the extremity of his pain. It is, however, believed that fat rubbed plentifully on the wound, and taken internally in sufficient quantities, would prove an antidote; but this is a medicine by no means likely to be always at hand among persons living a nomadic life, and but occasionally supplied with animal food like the Bushman. Fortunately for them they possess another remedy, growing plentifully and naturally in most parts of their country. We were aware that they knew of this; and a friend, who had been personally acquainted with the chief for a considerable time, had long attempted to induce him to reveal its name, but he was unwilling to do so, till in a conversation with another member of his tribe he mentioned its name; and our friend, who perfectly understood the Sechuana and some of the other native languages, asked him at the next opportunity if the remedy in question were not the “Kàla haétlwe,” and thus surprised him into the confession that white men knew everything, and that further attempts at concealment were useless. The word kala signifies friend, but we are not aware of the meaning of the concluding syllables. The “Kàla haétlwe” is a small, soft-stemmed plant; the flower is yellow, star-shaped, and has five petals; the stamens are numerous, and the calyx is divided into two sepals. The root is something between a bulb and a tuber—rough and brown outside—and, when cut, is seen marked with concentric lines of light reddish brown and purple. The leaves are 2½in. in length, and ¼in. wide. The mid-rib of the leaf projects on the under surface, and forms a depression on the upper. There are, however, two other plants which bear the same name, and are used for the same purpose. One of them has a broader leaf and larger flower, and tastes like sorrel; and the third has a waved or wrinkled leaf. The root or bulb is chewed and laid on the wound, and is followed by plentiful application of fat.

The natives use an arrow with a bone head dotted over with the ngwa or ’kaa poison, and loosely inserted into the shaft. This is a slender reed, seldom more than ⅜in. thick. It is bound with sinew at the end to keep the head from splitting it, and is also bound for the same purpose near the notch. In fastening this sinew no knots or hitches are used, but the end is frayed out very fine, chewed soft, and, while still soft, is firmly pressed down upon the rest, where its glutinous properties cause it firmly to adhere.

The Bushman makes use of a simple and effectual method of sheathing his arrows, so as to render any accidents impossible. When not intended for use the point is reversed and enters the socket in the shaft.

They make use of a very ingenious expedient for tightening the bowstring. A small knob of hardened sinew is firmly lashed to one end of the bow, the string made of the dorsal sinews of the springbok or other antelope, slightly twisted, has a loop at one end, which is hitched on to the end of the bow; the other is brought up and passed between the knob and the wood, several turns are taken loosely round the latter. When required for use the bow is bent by holding it with the hand and knee, with the action represented in the beautiful statue of Cupid, and then with the other hand turning the coil of sinew around the end of the bow until the string is sufficiently tightened.

They also adopt a very simple plan of preserving an ostrich feather. The Bushman, it may be after weeks or months of patient stalking, kills an ostrich. He knows the feathers are valuable, and that from a white trader he may obtain for them tobacco, clasp knives, tinder boxes, or other articles of value to himself, but he also knows that he must keep them clean and unbroken. He therefore inserts the quill first into a reed, and taps it on the ground till the whole feather has vanished, and he can carry it about in his quiver; and, to say truth, it is at first sight a little astonishing to a European when a Bushman offers for inspection a slender reed, to see him draw from it a gracefully waving ostrich plume of the finest quality and largest size.

The simple apparatus by which the Bushmen obtain fire is shown at page 536. It consists of two sticks of moderately close-grained but not very hard wood. One of these, which may be called the fire stick, is somewhat thicker than the little finger, and may be of any length, generally about 1ft. or 18in., and in this small notches are cut with the point of an assegai, at about 1in. apart, for the reception of the end of the other, or the whirling stick. This is about the size and length of the ramrod of a common fowling piece, and both are carried in the quiver, with their arrows, sucking reeds, and rushes, for the manufacture of bracelets, &c.

The preparation of the wourari poison is usually conducted by natives, from whom it is best obtained. This substance may be at times of service to the explorer. The sumpitans of the Dyaks and Borneans should also be noticed. Mr. Bates says that salt is put on the tongue of the coati as a restorative from the stupor induced by the wourari poison. We have often heard of poisoned bullets, and once saw an experiment tried. A hole was bored in a revolver bullet and filled with the juices of the ’kaa or ngwa—the Bushman’s poison grub; this was fired into the rump of an ox; the animal showed little or no sign of acute pain, but seemed to be dull and stupefied for some hours. At length it seemed as if it were likely to recover, and, partly because the flesh was really wanted for food, and partly to end an experiment which seemed likely to lead to no useful result, the poor creature was shot dead. Probably the fire might have neutralised or destroyed the active principle of the poison.

We have heard of some native tribes who prepare arrow poison by first making a hollow nest in the liver of a dead animal. They then fill this with living centipedes, scorpions, tarantulas, and other poisonous creatures. These they irritate by striking the liver with a stick, when the virus of the united assemblage of venom bearers is poured out and at once absorbed by the liver, which is rubbed over the weapon to be treated. The Chinese plunge their arrows in a putrid carcase in order to poison them. The Malays keep their poison preparations strictly secret. Poisoned weapons retain their destructive qualities for years, and should therefore be handled with extreme caution.

A square of paper, folded diagonally across, may be used as a “feather” for a blowpipe arrow. Wild cotton is also used to make the arrow fit the tube.

A cross-bow of peculiar construction is used by the Chinese; the action of the trigger is sufficiently simple to need no explanation, and the chief peculiarity consists in the fact of its having a kind of reservoir above the barrel, in which half a dozen or more arrows or bolts lie one upon the other; this is connected with the barrel only at the foremost end, the string passing beneath it, and the lowermost arrow resting on the string until the bow is bent; then the string being pulled back allows one arrow to drop into its place in the barrel, from which, of course, a sufficient length of the upper part has been cut away to admit of the arrow falling in. When the trigger is pulled, the string drives the lower arrow out from beneath the others; the next arrow then rests on the string, and, when that is again drawn back, drops like the first into the barrel; and so on until all are exhausted, and it becomes necessary to replenish the reservoir.