“It will be as well to punish them for their neglect,” said Swinton, “by stopping their tobacco for the week; for if they find that we attend to the fires ourselves, they will not keep one in, that you may depend upon.  However, we will discuss that point to-morrow, so good-night.”

Omrah came to the Major the next morning, before the oxen were yoked, to say that the Bushmen had found the lion, and that he was not yet dead, but nearly so; that the animal had dragged away that portion of the ox that he did not eat, about half a mile further; that there he had lain down, and he was so sick that he could not move.

At this intelligence they mounted their horses, and, guided by the Bushmen, arrived at the bush where the lion lay.  The Bushmen entered at once, for they had previously reconnoitered, and were saluted with a low snarl, very different from the roar of the preceding night.  Our travelers followed, and found the noble creature in his last agonies, his strength paralyzed, and his eyes closed.  One or two of the small arrows of the Bushmen were still sticking in his hide, and did not appear to have entered more than half an inch; but the poison was so subtle, that it had rapidly circulated through his whole frame; and while they were looking down upon the noble beast, it dropped its jaws and expired.

As our travelers turned back to join the caravan, Alexander observed:  “Those Bushmen, diminutive as they are in size, and contemptible as their weapons appear, must be dangerous enemies, when the mere prick of one of their small arrows is certain death.  What is their poison composed of?”

“Of the venom extracted from snakes, which is mixed up with the juice of the euphorbia, and boiled down till it becomes of the consistency of glue.  They then dip the heads of the arrows into it, and let it dry on.”

“Is then the venom of snakes so active after it has been taken away from the animal?”

“Yes, for a considerable time after.  I remember a story, which is, I believe, well authenticated, of a man who had been bitten through his boot by a rattlesnake in America.  The man died, and shortly afterward his two sons died one after the other, with just the same symptoms as their father, although they had not been bitten by snakes.  It was afterward discovered that upon the father’s death the sons had one after the other taken possession of and put on his boots, and the boots being examined, the fang of the rattlesnake was discovered to have passed through the leather and remained there.  The fang had merely grazed the skin of the two sons when they put on the boots, and had thus caused their death.”

“Are the snakes here as deadly in their poison as the rattlesnake of America?”

“Equally so,—­that is, two or three of them; some are harmless.  The most formidable is the cobra capella (not the same as the Indian snake of the same name).  It is very large, being usually five feet long; but it has been found six and even seven feet.  This snake has been known to dart at a man on horseback, and with such force as to overshoot his aim.  His bite is certain death, I believe, as I never heard of a man recovering from the wound.”