Sakai arms--Shooting--Serpent catchers--The Sakai and his
poisons--TOALANG, RENGAS AND SAGOL--SLÀ DOL, SLÀ PLEK and SLÀ
CLOB--AKAR TOKA--Ipok[19]--An antidote--The LEGOP--The Nai
Bretaks--The preparation of LEGOP--Curious and superfluous
ingredients--The effects of LEGOP--Strange contradictions--
Experiments--Poisons and antidotes--The settler and science.
The Sakai possesses only one weapon: the «_blaù_» (pr. blahoo) called
«_sumpitam_» by the Malays.
This reveals the peaceful character of these forest inhabitants who
never seek adventures or commit aggressions.
[Illustration: Quivers and poisoned arrows.
_p._ 203.]
The strong ugly knives which he procures from his brethren of the plain
or manufactures for himself, and the little hatchets I have already
described, are not for him arms in the exact meaning of the word but
are simply instruments necessary for those living in the jungle. He
employs them for cutting down bamboos, creepers and trees and for
preparing food, but very likely he would not know how to use them for an
assault or in defence.
His weapon in this case is always the _blaù_ (blow-pipe) which he
carries about with him constantly even if he only goes just outside his
hut.
It is a cane of bamboo from two metres and a half to three in length not
very large in diameter but perfectly round, especially inside. At one
end there is applied a mouth-piece similar to that of a trumpet.
Having introduced a dart the Sakai puts the cane to his lips and first
drawing a very long breath he then blows into it with all his might. The
little arrow flies out with the greatest velocity reaching to the
distance of 40, 50, or 60 metres.
It is a pea-shooter but with the difference that the projectiles shot
out are deadly in their effect, particularly so when in the hands of
persons who, like the Sakais, seldom or never fail to hit the mark.
This dangerous weapon, which at first might be mistaken for a toy, is
ornamented with designs lightly incised in the cane. It is kept with
great care and when not in immediate use it is slipped into a bamboo of
a larger size (this too decorated with incisions) which serves it as
sheath.
The arrow is a little stick made of very hard wood of about 12 or 14
inches long and not much bigger than a big knitting needle. At one
extremity is fixed a tiny cone made of palm-pith that stopping up the
tube, receives the impulsion of the air blown into it so violently.
The other extremity finishes in an exceedingly sharp point (sometimes of
bone or metal well inserted into the wood) contrived in such a mode
that when the dart strikes an object the point breaks off and remains
there. The force of penetration is however so great that the body of a
man standing 30 metres off may be pierced through without its being
broken.
No animal, except pachyderms, can challenge with impunity the Sakai's
arrow. It is always, and for all, a terrible messenger of Death, either
in the precision of aim, the violence with which it hits, or the poison
it inoculates.
In the same way as the aborigenes of Australia throw their boomerang
with inimitable dexterity and security, the Sakai manages his blowpipe
with a cleverness it is impossible to imitate or learn. The Malays, who
have studied to make themselves masters of this weapon, are but poor
shooters compared to their forest neighbours.
Together with the _blaù_ the Sakai always carries with him his _lok_
(quiver) suspended from a girdle of bark, called _bò gnan_ (pr. bo
nean).
This quiver is also composed of bamboo measuring from 3 to 7 inches
round and 13 or 14 long. It is very rare that the darts are placed in it
without being first enclosed in thin reeds, known by the name of _damà_
which preserve the points and prevent the poison from being rubbed off
as well as saving it from getting damp, when it would lose its force. In
its turn the quiver is enclosed in the _tchenkop_, a covering of ratan
or palm-fibres woven so intricately as to render it water-tight.
* * * * *
With his blowpipe ready the Sakai penetrates into the forest, creeping
softly among the tall grasses and bushes. No rustling, no crackling of
dry leaves denounces the presence of the man who advances cautiously
under the broad green roof, casting keen and restless glances towards
the branches of the trees. His ear catches the faintest flapping of
wings. From time to time he utters a cry like that of a bird or a
monkey, and quickly a feathered biped, moved by curiosity descends from
a higher to a lower bough; a monkey swings itself down in answer to the
call, or a pretty little head with a sharp nose and bright eyes peeps
out of a hollow in the tree.
[Illustration: Blowpipes, quivers and poisoned arrows.
_p._ 203.]
Very slowly and quietly the Sakai crouches down, lifts his blowpipe and
fixing his eyes upon the black mark he has made at the end of the cane,
he takes a long and steady aim.
The bird and the monkey 30 metres above him are trying to provocate
another cry from the voice they heard before; the squirrel looks puzzled
and uncertain but neither of the three suspects the mortal danger that
awaits them from below.
The Sakai blows into his _blaù_, the dart flies out with a slight whiz
and perforates the victim's flesh. There is a cry and a fall, then the
sportsman runs to pick up his prey.
Sometimes a wounded bird will fly away from the spot where it has been
hit, but the savage knows perfectly well the infallibility of his
poisons which will bring it to the ground in a few minutes, so he
follows the way it has taken.
Something of the same sort may also happen with a monkey. Although it is
usually cowardly enough to let itself fall a dead weight as soon as it
is touched (so breaking all its bones) it may by chance cling to the
bough upon which the Sakai shot it, but if the arrow itself does not
succeed in killing it, the poison never fails to do so and nothing can
save it from the fatal effect. The monkey holds on convulsively but the
_legop's_ influence cannot be resisted, there is a brief struggle
against death and then the animal is precipitated heavily to the ground.
The Sakai runs to pick it up but perhaps is arrested by seeing an
enormous boa constrictor twisting itself round the crushed body of the
little beast.
But at this sight the hunter does not despair. He observes the
surrounding trees with great attention and discovers that the one upon
which he had found the monkey has a large hole beneath, where the huge
reptile has taken up its abode.
He hurries away to let his comrades know, for a boa constrictor excites
the spirit of gluttony amongst the Sakais.
They instantly and unanimously resolve upon its capture and accompany
him to the scene.
Guessing nearabouts the length of the serpent they cut down a very
strong bamboo cane that if not longer is not shorter than the reptile
and at the end they fasten a stout piece of rattan ably folded into a
noose.
Terminated his repast the boa retires to his den and settles down for a
little nap that will help his digestion.
This is the right moment: two men, with great caution approach the
hollow, keeping in their hands the knot made of the Indian cane. Very
gently but with a rapid movement they lift up the snake's head and slip
it through the noose. The snake gives a shake but it is too late. At a
sign from the two who have disturbed its slumber, the others pull hard
the bamboos that they are holding in their hands. The noose is pulled
tighter and the boa constrictor fights furiously to get free. But the
more it resists the closer the knot becomes. The struggle between captor
and captured is not soon finished. The monster pulls, jumps, writhes,
sometimes giving such sudden springs as to make the tenacious Sakais run
here and there to keep their equilibrium and to stay out of its reach.
[Illustration: Shooting poisoned arrows through the blowpipe.
_p._ 205.]
Often they strive so for more than an hour but at last the serpent is
suffocated and is reduced to a lifeless mass. Then its victors carry it
triumphantly to their village where it makes a banquet for almost all
the inhabitants.
* * * * *
The Sakais would find but a scanty result from their hunting and
shooting-, and their own lives would not be sufficiently protected if
the forest did not provide them with an inexhaustible and infallible
means of dealing death with their blowpipes and darts.
There is such a rich and varied quantity of plants growing in the jungle
which produce poison, that Man has the choice of using the one he deems
more adapted for this or that particular need.
The Sakai is enthusiastic over his poisons, so much is he engrossed in
the science that it takes with him the post of a besetting. Like a
maniac which always speaks of his strange fancies, so this poor savage
speaks all day long of his poisons, and studies their qualities.
And they provide him with all the necessaries for his primitive
existence for he utilizes them in shooting, fishing, and in setting
traps for big and small animals, they are a defence for himself and the
whole village where he lives, besides furnishing him with the means (by
barter) of obtaining tobacco, rice or any other article that cannot be
found in the forest.
All his best intellectual faculty is consecrated to the research and
preparation of poisons because it must not be thought that he uses one
instead of the other indifferently. Those with which he is most familiar
are each used as the occasion may require.
Just as a gun is not loaded with the same sized shot when shooting small
birds and partridges, the Sakai does not waste his strong poisons when a
weaker one would be equally effectual.
His selection of one rather than the other is frequently regulated by
the state of the atmosphere (damp being pernicious to venomous
productions) and sometimes by the phases of the moon.
These plants are herbaceous, arboreous and often creepers, but not all
those that grow in the forest, nor even those known to the savage for
their efficacy, are yet in the knowledge of Science.
This is a very great pity as I fear that these medicinal treasures,
which may contain miraculous properties, will be inevitably lost if a
scientific study of this wild jungle produce is not quickly initiated.
The fever of colonization has attacked the forest and here and there it
rages; for certain it will not be a long time before that vast extension
of tropical vegetation with the extraordinary fertility of its soil will
give place to plantations of Parah-rubber, gutta-percha, coffee, sugar,
rice, tobacco, etc.
For this reason I shall be very pleased to give what aid I can to the
cause of Science by means of notes, collections and specimens of paints
and animals not yet thoroughly known or studied, should anyone feel
inclined to respond to the offer before it is too late. Such help would
seem to me a sweet chain of thought, linking the mind of the colonist in
the remote depths of the Malay Forest, to the Mother Country and that
civilization from which he has withdrawn himself.
* * * * *
The "_giu u toalang_" is one of the colossal trees of the Jungle for it
reaches from 40 to 46 yards in height. It may be said that its whole
organism is poisonous because its deadly properties have the same force
in the juice under the bark as in the leaves, when they are rubbed or
broken. If this sap finds its way under the skin, in contact with the
flesh or blood-vessels it has a quick and mortal effect. It seems to me
that even the smell might produce fatal consequences but of this I am
not sure, although it is a certain fact that it makes one feel very ill
and the indisposition can only be cured by keeping the patient in a high
temperature.
Almost the same poisonous power has the "_giù u rangas_", a tree of
more modest dimensions, and the "_giù u sagol_" smaller still. It is
dangerous to touch the leaves of these two plants because they bring
about a severe irritation of the skin, covering it with pimples and
little bladders, that itch intolerably, whilst the body becomes
swollen. And yet the temptation to scratch must be resisted or
ulceration follows with the probability of gangrene. When one is able
to renounce the momentary relief procured by rubbing or scratching the
inconvenience passes in a couple of days.
The _toalang_, _rengas_, and _sagol_ are to be found scattered profusely
over the forest but the Sakai does not interest himself in their
venomous properties because he finds that those of which he already
knows the secret fully satisfy his wants in promptness and effect. On
the contrary he wages a continual war against these noxious plants
beating them down and destroying them wherever he comes across them. He
is very careful, however not to touch them with his hatchet but chops
down one of the giants growing near which bears them to the ground in
its ponderous fall.
As soon as the dangerous trees are down the trunk and branches of their
involuntary assassin are pulled away and they are left on the spot for
one or two months to dry, and when completely withered they are burnt.
* * * * *
There is also a large and varied number of plants in the forest whose
leaves are very dangerous. I will mention for an example the _slà dol_,
_slà plek_ and the _slà clob_ the leaves of which, if eaten, may
engender fatal consequences according to the Sakais.
In some the poisonous qualities are located only in the roots. Of the
_legop_, which belongs to this class I will speak further on, for now I
will only name the _akar tobà_.
This root is first well pounded and then left to soak in some water for
a few days after which the venomous liquid is thrown into a pond and a
perfect massacre of big and little fish follows, all of which may be
eaten without doing any harm to the persons.
What sort of poison this is I cannot say for it has never been made the
object of special study. I have proved its utility in destroying insects
and particularly the larva of mosquitoes and the little worms that ruin
fruit and vegetables.
* * * * *
The _ipok_ called "_upas_" by the Malays and "_antiaris toxicaria_" by
botanists is a tree which supplies a poisonous juice to the Sakais of
the plain. It is a colossus of the forest, and belongs to the nettle
family.
It has broad, shiny leaves something like those of the magnolia, and
numerous species are to be found in the Malay Jungle.
When the season is not too damp and there is a full moon the Sakais make
some deep cuts in the bark of this tree and place some bamboo tubes
around it in order to catch the sap which flows out abundantly. This
juice has a gluey, resinous appearance and is white or yellow according
to whether it is extracted from the trunk or from a young bough.
[Illustration: A branch of the poison-tree "Upas".
_p._ 210.]
Then, whilst still in the thick of the forest, they light up a fire and
boil the liquid during which process the _Alà_, who presides over the
work, mutters the magical words without which the poison would not have
the desired force.
It is not taken from the fire until it presents the aspect of tar, in
thickness and colour. Finished to boil, some lemons are squeezed over it
and after throwing in red arsenic and other drugs it is all stirred up
together and the mixture is ready for use.
The substances added to the _ipok_--with the exception of the
arsenic--are not toxical but are only the expression of Sakai
prejudices.
The flesh of animals killed with arrows dipped in _ipok_ are perfectly
eatable after being cooked a little, but the precaution must be taken of
cutting away for about an inch round the wound which turns purple
immediately from the action of the poison.
An antidote against _ipok_ poisoning is found in the juice of a climber
called _lemmak kapiting_. By energetically rubbing the wound with this
juice all baneful effects of the _ipok_ are checked.
* * * * *
I believe that it is amongst creepers that the most powerful poisons
must be sought.
The Sakai is on confidential terms with the _giù u legop_, _giù u
labor_, _giù u lampat_, _giù u masè_ and the _giù u loo_, but the
_lampon_ and _broial_ are not forgotten either.[20]
The roots of these two plants yield poisons that are amongst the most
terrible of those which abound in the forest.
It seems to me that the only difference passing between these creepers
is in the intensity of virulence, but not in the nature of the venomous
substances, and it is just for this that the Sakais favour the _legop_
and make it the centre of their primitive chemical studies because it
furnishes them with the strongest and most fatal of poisons.
This parasite, as soon as it is long enough, clings to one of the superb
vegetable kings of the forest, twining round it with a tenacious hold.
Its trunk is from 2 to 4 inches in diameter and gives vigorous life to
about 5000 feet of its offspring.
The _legop_ leaves are green, smooth and glossy, similar in form to
those of the lemon, but they are larger. They are covered longitudinally
by prominent nervures.
The fruit borne by this dangerous plant is of the size and form of a
small orange, slightly depressed at the stalk and the opposite part. It
is very black and hard to break, a hammer or its substitute being
necessary to disclose its contents which consist in a great number of
little seeds embedded in a scanty pulp.
All the Sakais extract and prepare poison from the _legop_ but there is
a tribe living in the most remote parts of the forest, severed from all
intercourse with civilized beings, and in consequence pure barbarians,
who are renowned for their ability in the preparation of the same, and
whose products are considered much superior in strength.
[Illustration: Extracting poison from the "Upas" tree.
_p._ 210.]
It is the Mai Bretak tribe to whom all the other Sakais have recourse,
carrying with them a large tribute of the goods usual in exchange. This
speciality mixed with _ipok_ is the Essence of Death in drops. The
minutest particle that enters the blood means imminent extinction of
life. The sentence is irrevocable for no remedy is known with which to
avert it. The utter impossibility of saving a creature that has fallen a
victim to this terrible poison has given rise to a superstition among
the Sakais that an evil spirit hovers over, or goes into the mixture
when it is being prepared and for this they do not set themselves to the
work without taking numerous precautions.
_Ipok_ is extracted and condensed (under the exorcism of _Alà_) in the
presence of, perhaps, all the village but no women or girls may assist
at the preparation of _legop_ lest the invisible enemy should do them
some injury. (The spirit is evidently a woman hater!).
The man who prepares it may not eat fish or meat on the day fixed for
the important operation and once he has begun it he must remain fasting
until he has finished. He is scrupulously attentive not to expose
himself to the steam escaping from the bubbling liquid and often (here
superstition comes to the aid of cleanliness and hygiene) has to wash
his face and hands. But even all this caution is not sufficient and he
is considered as a sick person for some days.
The earthenware pot or bamboo used for the purpose must be new, nothing
must have been cooked in it before, and nothing after. Directly the
_legop_ has been poured out it is thrown away because contaminated.
The perfect newness of these vessels serves to increase the power of the
poison.
* * * * *
A couple of days before the Sakai wishes to prepare the deadly mixture
he goes in search of the creeper, which having found he uncovers its
roots and to assure himself that he has not made a mistake, he tries if
it has the bitter taste natural to it. Secure upon this point he digs
up a nice lot and then fills up his dosser with two sorts of bulbous
plants which secrete a glutinous substance but whose name and quality I
have never found out. This done he rambles about the forest until he is
able to find two kinds of wasps or bees (whichever they are); one is
very big and black the sting of which causes a high fever, and which
generally has its nest on the ground; the other is little and red,
stings like a nettle and has its nest under the leaves of a tree.
If he has in store some teeth of the _sendok_ snake, or of any other
equally venomous, he now returns to the village, otherwise he looks for
one, kills it and possesses himself of its fangs.
Having thus all the necessary ingredients, the Sakai begins to pound the
roots into a paste. This mass he then puts into a tube stopped up by
leaves which lets pass a liquid but not a substance. Keeping this
primitive filter suspended over the receptacle to be used for boiling,
he slowly empties some water into it which soaking through the paste
becomes of a brown colour before it reaches the vessel beneath.
Terminated the filtering process he takes the two bulbous plants and
squeezing them in his hand he sprinkles as much of their juice as he
thinks fit, into the same vessel. The serpent's teeth and the bees are
then pounded, they too, and cast in with all the rest which is at once
placed on a slow fire. When the mixture begins to boil the Sakai skims
off the impurities floating on the surface and adds a little more
_legop_ if it seems to him necessary, taking great care, meanwhile, not
to breath or to be enveloped by the fumes rising from the pot.
[Illustration: Root of the poisonous creeper "Legop".
_p._ 212.]
The poison is lifted off the fire as soon as it has got to the
consistency of a syrup and is of a dark reddish colour, the darts are
dipped into it and its virulence is put to the test without waste of
time. If the proof is satisfactory the thick fluid is poured into bamboo
receptacles, covered with leaves, and a piece of deer-skin fastened over
them with a band of _scudiscio_ and finally the vases are collocated in
the driest corner of the hut, from whence from time to time, they are
carried near the fire to prevent that their contents should lose force
through humidity.
* * * * *
Now the question is this: do the ingredients which the Bretak Sakai
believes indispensable in this concoction augment the virulence of the
_legop_?
I am inclined to doubt it a great deal as I do not think those two
plants containing the glutinous juice are poisonous, or at least very
little so, but that they are added merely to give denseness to the
mixture or else from a false supposition of the indigenes.
And less still can serpents' teeth or crushed wasps have any influence
in increasing the power of this poison, which is in itself intense.
Evidently the Sakais, well aware of the lethal effect of a bite from a
serpent, think that by introducing into the wound, by means of their
dart, a tiny portion of the organ which determines this effect, an equal
result will follow.
He neither knows nor imagines that the tooth exercises a simple
mechanical action in consequence of which the little reservoir of
poison, being compressed, lets a drop fall into the wound produced by
the bite.
But there is nothing to be surprised at in this because in history we
learn that the superstitions and sorceries practised by more advanced
races than the Sakais offer the most curious documents in proof of such
odd reasoning.
It is enough to remember that in the time of Augustus the jaw bone of a
female dog, which had been kept fasting, and a quill plucked from a
screech-owl were required for the enchantments of Canidia, _ossa ab ore
rapta jejunae canis, plumanque nocturna strigis_. And yet it was just at
that period Rome had inherited from Greece the Philosophy of the
Epicureans and that of the Sceptics and was maturing the poem of
Lucretius Carus!
And quite recently has it not been narrated by Parson Evans, of Wales,
how he had been badly treated by a spirit because he had forgotten a
fumigation during one of his enchantments?
If there has been so much imposture or hallucination amongst advanced
peoples (or supposed to be such) we cannot reproach the poor Sakai for
his ignorance if in all good faith he thinks that a pinch of pounded
bees and serpents' teeth increases the virulence of the _legop_ poison.
Does he not also believe that the mysterious words muttered by the _Alà_
give greater force to his murderous preparations?
* * * * *
As to the effects of the _legop_ strange and contradictory versions are
given.
Some affirm that the smallest possible quantity brought into contact
with the blood, causes instantaneous death; others declare that it is
not sufficiently powerful to kill a man or a beast if the quantity
inoculated is not in proportion to the size or if they are strong enough
to resist it.
It is my opinion that both these assertions are exaggerated.
One day I asked a Sakai if he thought it possible to kill a man with
_legop_.
He replied that nearly every day animals of double the bulk and strength
of a man were killed in the forest, and that the poison supplied by this
creeper speedily fulfils its mission. As a proof of this he related that
once he was standing near a Javanese who had been guilty of violating a
woman. This man was hit by a poisoned dart and died almost immediately.
Without appearing in the least to doubt the fact I begged him to show me
the exact spot where the dart entered the poor fellow, and where it came
out, and from his indications I could convince myself that the dart
having penetrated under the shoulder blade had passed through the heart
from part to part and had been arrested in its course by the muscles of
the thorax.
It was therefore clear to me that death was due to the passage of the
dart through the victim's body and had nothing to do with the poison in
which the missile had been previously steeped. To my knowledge no
recognized studies have ever been made to ascertain the true force of
_legop_, so one is free to calculate it at its maximum or minimum,
especially when its susceptibility to atmospheric changes is considered.
When the weather is dry it carries death on the wing of the arrow, but
if it should be wet, or damp, the poison becomes moist and remains on
the surface of the wound (where it can be easily rubbed off) instead of
penetrating with the dart into the object aimed at.
And this was the disillusion of one who wanted to try its effects on a
dog. The poor beast howled with the pain but did not present any symptom
of poisoning.
* * * * *
Science alone can pronounce accurately upon the toxical qualities of the
_legop_ and I am always ready to assist it with my modest experience.
Wishing to solve every doubt and also to find out an antidote to this
poison I sacrificed many innocent creatures, but I will relate the
pitiful end of only two.
I selected a fine fowl full of healthy vigour and taking one of these
poisoned darts I made a wound of not more than a half an inch long upon
the upper part of its leg.
For a minute after it moved about slowly without even noticing the
wound, then it stopped as if overcome by a strange sense of stupor, but
soon began to peck the ground.
Two minutes and a half later it opened and shut its beak and let its
tail and wings fall limply on the ground. Another half a minute and with
its legs bent under, as though sitting, it sought to raise and shake its
drooping head. For an-instant it succeeded but the poor member wagged
without energy (as happens to us when in travelling we get sleepy but
have no place to repose ourselves) whilst its eyes now shut, and now
wide open wore an expression of unconsciousness.
About the fourth minute the animal was seized with violent convulsions
and at the fifth it was quite dead.
I made the same trial upon a middle-sized dog, wounding this also upon a
leg in order not to touch a vital part.
At first it seemed quite insensible to what I had done but after three
or four minutes had passed it got very inquiet and sniffed the ground
and everything that was around as if to find out what was the matter,
turning round its head from time to time towards its thigh which it
evidently felt was the seat of its uneasiness. It gave a jump, a
prolonged shudder and then lay down.
Once it feebly barked but when it made a second attempt it entirely
failed. The cry was not one of pain but seemed to be a sound emitted
under the impulse of profound bewilderment.
[Illustration: Branch and fruit of the poisonous creeper "Legop".
_p._ 212.]
Its head rested for a moment upon its fore-legs but was soon lifted up
as the animal rolled over on one side of its body which had the
appearance of being paralyzed. Its eyes became fixed, expressionless.
The body shivered and gave little starts but the head remained
motionless, lying heavily on the ground, and the eyes in their glassy
stare revealed the absence of all perception of the senses rather than
pain or mortal anguish.
At this point I turned my attention to its heart which was beating
quickly and violently. It stopped an instant, then continued but very,
very weakly whilst the whole body began to take a rigid form.
A quarter of an hour after the inoculation of _legop_, the dog was dead.
* * * * *
If I do not mistake, the first and almost immediate effect of this
poison is upon the nerve centres. For certain the blood remains
unaltered, or at least no change is visible and the flesh of animals
killed with _legop_ does not lose any of its flavour nor is there any
danger in eating it.
But I dare not speak with any precision about the nature of certain
venomous products because where the vast field for scientific research
begins, the unpretending labour of the colonist, who collects, refers
and describes, finishes, leaving to the chemical student and the
physiologist the task of drawing from the information given, those
results which may be for the good of humanity in general.
The poisonous flora of the forest is not limited to trees and climbing
plants; it extends also to countless herbs, to an infinite variety of
fungi, berries, flowers and tempting fruits.
The realm of poison is known but very little. It still reserves the
greatest surprises for the scientist who wishes to explore it. And
because provident Nature in every manifestation of its fecundity has the
habit of putting different qualities in contrast I think that amongst
such an abundant vegetation of dangerous plants there may be another,
perhaps less plentiful but which would serve to oppose the deadly
effects of the first.
The Sakai knows no antidote except those I have mentioned: the _lemmah
kapiting_ and the one empirically prepared with quicklime and urine.
Neither of them, however, can be warranted as genuine articles, so in
this field Science would have everything to discover.
The great Sorceress, the great and incomparable Malayan Forest, offers
wonderful treasures to the world, some of which give charms to Life and
others conceal the snares of Death.
It is for the _homo sapiens_ to distinguish this from that and to make
himself the master of their secrets as he has done with Electricity,
thereby making it the means of illumination, motive power, and the
alleviation of many physical sufferings.
This forest, which would have answered to all the criminal exigencies of
the Borgias as regards poisons, is still a waste land, notwithstanding
its extraordinary riches.
Let Science tell us of the immense treasures there produced for the
welfare of Mankind.
[Illustration: Preparing "Legop" poisons.
_p._ 214.]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 19: The _i_ is almost an _e_ and the _a_ in all these words
are pronounced as _ha_. _Translator's Note._]
[Footnote 20: The professors, A. Benedicenti and G. B. De Toni, of the
Camerino University have published the result of their studies upon the
roots and some juice extracted from the _broial_ which I sent them for
the purpose in 1902. I think, however, that the conclusions of these two
scientists would have been in favour of a greater and quicker effect of
this poison if, in spite of all my care, the samples had not suffered
from the change of climate and, very likely, been exposed to dampness.]