Another Kind Of Poison Was Met With On Lake Nyassa, Which Was Said To
Be Used Exclusively For Killing Men.
It was put on small wooden
arrow-heads, and carefully protected by a piece of maize-leaf tied
round it.
It caused numbness of the tongue when the smallest
particle was tasted. The Bushmen of the northern part of the
Kalahari were seen applying the entrails of a small caterpillar which
they termed 'Nga to their arrows. This venom was declared to be so
powerful in producing delirium, that a man in dying returned in
imagination to a state of infancy, and would call for his mother's
breast. Lions when shot with it are said to perish in agonies. The
poisonous ingredient in this case may be derived from the plant on
which the caterpillar feeds. It is difficult to conceive by what
sort of experiments the properties of these poisons, known for
generations, were proved. Probably the animal instincts, which have
become so obtuse by civilization, that children in England eat the
berries of the deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) without
suspicion, were in the early uncivilized state much more keen. In
some points instinct is still retained among savages. It is related
that in the celebrated voyage of the French navigator, Bougainville,
a young lady, who had assumed the male attire, performed all the hard
duties incident to the calling of a common sailor; and, even as
servant to the geologist, carried a bag of stones and specimens over
hills and dales without a complaint, and without having her sex
suspected by her associates; but on landing among the savages of one
of the South Sea Islands, she was instantly recognized as a female.
They began to show their impressions in a way that compelled her to
confess her sex, and throw herself on the protection of the
commander, which of course was granted. In like manner, the earlier
portions of the human family may have had their instincts as to
plants more highly developed than any of their descendants - if indeed
much more knowledge than we usually suppose be not the effect of
direct revelation from above.
The Mukuru-Madse has a deep rocky bed. The water is generally about
four feet deep, and fifteen or twenty yards broad. Before reaching
it, we passed five or six gullies; but beyond it the country, for two
or three miles from the river, was comparatively smooth. The long
grass was overrunning all the native paths, and one species (sanu),
which has a sharp barbed seed a quarter of an inch in length, enters
every pore of woollen clothing and highly irritates the skin. From
its hard, sharp point a series of minute barbs are laid back, and
give the seed a hold wherever it enters: the slightest touch gives
it an entering motion, and the little hooks prevent its working out.
These seeds are so abundant in some spots, that the inside of the
stocking becomes worse than the roughest hair shirt. It is, however,
an excellent self-sower, and fine fodder; it rises to the height of
common meadow-grass in England, and would be a capital plant for
spreading over a new country not so abundantly supplied with grasses
as this is.
We have sometimes noticed two or three leaves together pierced
through by these seeds, and thus made, as it were, into wings to
carry them to any soil suited to their growth.
We always follow the native paths, though they are generally not more
than fifteen inches broad, and so often have deep little holes in
them, made for the purpose of setting traps for small animals, and
are so much obscured by the long grass, that one has to keep one's
eyes on the ground more than is pleasant. In spite, however, of all
drawbacks, it is vastly more easy to travel on these tracks than to
go straight over uncultivated ground, or virgin forest. A path
usually leads to some village, though sometimes it turns out to be a
mere game track leading nowhere.
In going north, we came into a part called Mpemba where Chibisa was
owned as chief, but the people did not know that he had been
assassinated by the Portuguese Terera. A great deal of grain was
lying round the hut, where we spent the night. Very large numbers of
turtledoves feasted undisturbed on the tall stalked mapira ears, and
we easily secured plenty of fine fat guinea-fowls - now allowed to
feed leisurely in the deserted gardens. The reason assigned for all
this listless improvidence was "There are no women to grind the corn-
-all are dead."
The cotton patches in all cases seemed to have been so well cared
for, and kept so free of weeds formerly, that, though now untended,
but few weeds had sprung up; and the bushes were thus preserved in
the annual grass burnings. Many baobab-trees grow in different
spots, and the few people seen were using the white pulp found
between the seeds to make a pleasant subacid drink.
On passing Malango, near the uppermost cataract, not a soul was to be
seen; but, as we rested opposite a beautiful tree-covered island, the
merry voices of children at play fell on our ears - the parents had
fled thither for protection from the slave-hunting Ajawa, still urged
on by the occasional visits of the Portuguese agents from Tette. The
Ajawa, instead of passing below the Cataracts, now avoided us, and
crossed over to the east side near to the tree on which we had hung
the boat. Those of the Manganja, to whom we could make ourselves
known, readily came to us; but the majority had lost all confidence
in themselves, in each other, and in every one else. The boat had
been burned about three months previously, and the Manganja were very
anxious that we should believe that this had been the act of the
Ajawa; but on scanning the spot we saw that it was more likely to
have caught fire in the grass-burning of the country.
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