birds nor
beasts. This would be no country for a sportsman except when the grass
is short. The animals are wary, from the dread they have of the poisoned
arrows. Those of the natives who do hunt are deeply imbued with the
hunting spirit, and follow the game with a stealthy perseverance and
cunning, quite extraordinary. The arrow making no noise, the herd is
followed up until the poison takes effect, and the wounded animal falls
out. It is then patiently watched till it drops--a portion of meat round
the wound is cut away, and all the rest eaten.

Poisoned arrows are made in two pieces. An iron barb is firmly fastened
to one end of a small wand of wood, ten inches or a foot long, the other
end of which, fined down to a long point, is nicely fitted, though not
otherwise secured, in the hollow of the reed, which forms the arrow
shaft. The wood immediately below the iron head is smeared with the
poison. When the arrow is shot into an animal, the reed either falls to
the ground at once, or is very soon brushed off by the bushes; but the
iron barb and poisoned upper part of the wood remain in the wound. If
made in one piece, the arrow would often be torn out, head and all, by
the long shaft catching in the underwood, or striking against trees. The
poison used here, and called _kombi_, is obtained from a species of
_strophanthus_, and is very virulent. Dr. Kirk found by an accidental
experiment on himself that it acts by lowering the pulse. In using his
tooth-brush, which had been in a pocket containing a little of the
poison, he noticed a bitter taste, but attributed it to his having
sometimes used, the handle in taking quinine. Though the quantity was
small, it immediately showed its power by lowering his pulse which at the
time had been raised by a cold, and next day he was perfectly restored.
Not much can be inferred from a single case of this kind, but it is
possible that the kombi may turn out a valuable remedy; and as Professor
Sharpey has conducted a series of experiments with this substance, we
look with interest for the results. An alkaloid has been obtained from
it similar to strychnine. There is no doubt that all kinds of wild
animals die from the effects of poisoned arrows, except the elephant and
hippopotamus. The amount of poison that this little weapon can convey
into their systems being too small to kill those huge beasts, the hunters
resort to the beam trap instead.

Another kind of poison wa