The arrow-poisons of northern Nigeria.

  • La Chard, Louis W.
Date:
[1905]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The arrow-poisons of northern Nigeria. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Chief with closed eyes. I accordingly, to all appearances, obeyed. The Chief waved his open hands in front of my eyes at the same time muttering in a low voice some strange-sounding words, then assured me that all was well. I was able to watch his movements as I did not quite close my eyes. Ledju is also supposed to possess other extraor- dinary powers besides those of a rainmaker. He showed me an iron rod (Sketch 3) about 3 feet long and about 1 inch in diameter with a kind of hollow' iron bulb at each end and containing bits of stone. This particular implement is used fo induce women to bring forth large families, the modus operandi being for the husband to bring the w'ould-be mother to Ledju, who, grasping the iron rod in the centre with the right hand, shakes it over and around the woman, rattling the stones in the bulbs at the ends of the -rod, at the same time muttering some strange incantation. F. Spire.