BORGIAS OF WEST AFRICA

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1717, 25 January 1905, Page 60

BORGIAS OF WEST AFRICA

The poisoning art flourishes in West Africa. A writer in “The Journal of the African Society” says for some years now death by poison has been the subject of talk in the colony of Sierra Leone, and one could scarcely credit the statements so often made with respect to this subject. No one, it would appear, dies from natural cases. Poisoning m cue form or another is put down as the cause of death not only amongst the poor, but also amongst the rich, and yet no one would or could come forward to attest the fact that such a one has been poisoned by such a substance. Some of these deaths which appear to be mysterious have given cause for great alarm and anxiety, and aroused a teeling of dread and bitterness against the country doctors, to whom they are attributed.

A peculiar kind of disease, of the origin of which no account could be given, is now and again met with amongst the people- The European doctor, when called in. is puzzled, for he sees before hnn a young healthy man or woman, between the ages of 23 and 40 years, struck down with paralysis. He examines the case carefully, crossexamines scrupulously the patient and his friends, and fails to arrive at any conclusion from these as to the source of the troluble. He suspects poison, and is told that the person lias been poisoned. He endevours to treat the symptoms, and either fails, or the case is removed to a country doctor. The individual may live or die, this depending on the nature and the quantity of the poison administered. These cases are brought forward daily.