ELEPHANT SHREWS AND ARROW POISON ‘The Acokanthera-based poisons of East Africa are justifiably famous (for an overview see Verdcourt and Trump, 1969). Perhaps best known of all is the arrow poison prepared by the Giriama of Kilifi District in Kenya, using the bark and roots of Acokanthera schimperi (Walker, 1957). This poison, whose deadly effects were apparently first recorded (and indeed experienced) by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century, achieved more recent notoriety when it was discovered that it was being used by Waata hunter-gatherers to kill large numbers of elephants within the then newly-created Tsavo National Parks (Holman, 1967; Sheldrick, 1973; Parker, 1983). The action of A. schimperi and other, optional, plant ingredients in the poison is reasonably well understood. A. schimperi itself provides a potent mixture of ouabain and other cardiac glycosides, sufficient to kill elephants and other large mammals with extreme rapidity if the poison is well made and the arrows on target (Watt and Breyer-Brandwijk, 1962; Parker, 1983). Cardiac glycosides are also present in the Desert Rose, Adenium ‘obesum, whose wood and roots are sometimes added to the brew by Giriama and Wasta producers (Champion, 1922; Parker, 1983). Addition of the irritant latex from Aloe rabaiensis, Excoecaria madagascariensis or Euphorbia tenuispinosa, increases the adhesiveness of the poison and accelerates its absorption into the victim's blood system (Walker, 1957; Verdcourt and Trump, 1969; Parker, 1983). The role of another recorded ingredient, the wood and bark of the tree Plarycelyphium voense, is, however, not understood (Parker, 1983). While the potency of Giriama arrow poison derives principally, perhaps even wholly, from plant materials, these are not its only ingredients. Different vertebrate animals, or parts of them, may also be added to the poison. These extra ingredients are reported to include the innards of Puff Adders, Bitis arierans, and the gall bladder and liver of a Nile Crocodile, Crocodylus niloticus (Holman, 1967). Giriama believe crocodile bile to be a deadly poison, and presumably have similar ideas about their livers as well as Puff ‘Adders’ innards. These ideas probably reflect the perceived danger posed by these animals rather than any effective toxicity, and the inclusion of these substances in the recipe for ‘arrow poison might therefore be described under the heading of sympathetic magic. ‘The same description also applies to another animal ingredient: the whole body, live ‘on some accounts, roasted on others, of an elephant shrew. In this case, however, the sympathetic magic is considerably more subtle, and as a result has been somewhat misrepresented in the literature. Moreover, there is some uncertainty about the identity of the animal involved. The rest of this article is devoted to an attempt to untangle some of this confusion. ‘According to Walker (1957) and Holman (1967) the animal in question is an elephant shrew, the species of which they do not identify. Champion (1922) describes it as a "rat" and identifies it by its Giriama name, p'inji. Like most non-zoologists, the Giriama and other Mijikenda speakers do not usually distinguish between small insectivores and small rodents, but tend to lump them together as different types of p’anya or rat. More than twenty Mijikenda names for these have been recorded (see, for example, the Giriama list in Taylor, 18914). To make matters more complicated, the application of these names appears to differ somewhat between dialects. In Duruma, for example, the animal known as p'inji in Giriama is called nyunga. The Mijikenda classification of insectivores and rodents remains to be described and elucidated in full, and to date neither of these names has been given its proper zoological identification. 18In Krapf and Rebmann's RaSai dictionary (1887) the p'inji is described as having Jong snout, while in one of the Giriama folk-tales reproduced by Thoya (1980) describes how this came about. On this basis it seems reasonable to accept, as a working hypothesis, the identification of the p'inji as an elephant shrew, family Macroscelididae. It is also possible to hazard a guess at the species. Working in Gedi Forest, Costich (1977) has already matched two species with their Giriama names. These are fugu, the Giant (or Yellow, or Golden-rumped) Elephant Shrew, Rhynchocynon cirnei, subspecies chrysopygus, and ts‘anje, the Four-toed (or Knob-bristled) Elephant Shrew, Petrodromus tetradactylus, subspecies sultan. By a process of elimination based upon the known distribution of other species, this leaves only two which p'inji might describe: the Rufus Elephant Shrew, Elephantulus rufescens, or the Short-snouted Elephant Shrew, Elephantulus brachyrhynchus (the classification and nomenclature adopted here follows Haltenorth and Diller, 1980). The Rufous Elephant Shrew, with its longer snout and association with dry bush country, including Tsavo, seems to be the most likely candidate, This assumes, of course, that the name p'inji is applied consistently to just one species. Why, then, is an elephant shrew added to the arrow poison? Two closely related explanations are given in the literature. According to Walker (1957), the elephant shrew “when disturbed, makes its escape in a straight line, and its presence in the mixture is supposed to make the wounded game escape also in a straight line, making the search for the body more simple and safer - a nice example of sympathetic magic.” The same explanation is given by Holman (1967): "The elephant shrew is an animal that follows a path. With the essence of such a creature in the poison, an elephant dying from it would also obligingly stick to a path, thus simplifying its pursuit." Such a pursuit may, of course, be necessary if the poison is not as potent as it should be or has not hit its mark properly (Watt and Breyer-Brandwijk, 1962). The second explanation is not only the oldest one recorded (see Krapf and Rebmann, 1887; Champion, 1922), but also the only explanation I have ever heard from contemporary Giriama and other Mijikenda. It is believed that the p'‘inji (or nyunga) is unable to cross a path without dropping dead in the act. Likewise, an animal wounded with arrow poison containing the p'inji is expected to die if it attempts to cross a path, making its pursuit even easier than if it were simply to make off in straight line without such a limit to this travels. Given that the explanation related by Walker and Holman is probably from the same (Tsavo) source, it may be that it is no more than a garbled or rationalized version of the second, and certainly more widespread, explanation. This seems all the more likely given the parallel Kamba belief about a small animal called Kailwa ni nzta, literally “the little one that is sent back by the road." According to Lindblom (1926), this “is a kind of mouse which is very often seen running along a path without crossing it. The natives believe that if this little rat crosses a road it will die." the Kamba case, however, there is no record of this creature being an ingredient in arrow poison. These beliefs fit in with what is known about the behaviour of elephant shrews, particularly the fact that they are usually diurnal (and therefore often seen) and tend to keep to regularly used pathways. This fact is not lost upon Mijikenda observers. According to an old Rafai proverb, when the ts‘anje dies, its trails also die (Krapf and Rebmann, 1887). In his gloss upon this proverb, Taylor (1891b) supplies a fairly accurate description of the Four-toed Elephant Shrew, including the observation that “it has a sort of brush of short bristles under its tail, with which it produces a trail or path as it moves about in the jungle, and in doing which it makes a rustle." The Rufous Elephant Shrew,tentatively identified with the Giriama p'inji, is also known to possess well-used runs (Rathbun, 1979). In addition to being seen running along these trails, it is possible that from time to time they are found dead upon them, giving further force to the beliefs described above. It may be, of course, that the p'‘inji makes a more tangible contribution to the potency and efficacy of Giriama arrow poison, other than increasing the confidence of its users. As long as its proper identification remains uncertain, this will be difficult to ascertain. In general the work of matching vernacular names, like those of the Giriama, with their zoological equivalents is in a rudimentary stage. This is especially so in the case of small ‘mammals like most rodents and insectivores, which remain relatively under-researched. Indigenous knowledge, beliefs and practices concerning these mammals may be of particular importance in providing clues to their distribution and behaviour, as well as in understanding its wider ecological context, a context which includes Homo sapiens both as ‘a predator and as a major actor in changing the environment. Acknowledgements I am very grateful to Roger Blench in Cambridge, Eva Ndavu in Nairobi, and Yvette ‘Vermeulen in Mombasa, for their help in locating and making copies of some of the more inaccessible sources which I have used in writing this article. References Champion, A.M. 1922. Some Notes on the Wasanye. Journal of the East Africa and Uganda Natural History Society, 17: 21-24. Costich, D.E. 1977. A Checklist of Mammals in Gedi National Park with Kigiriama Names. EANHS Bulletin, Jan/Feb., 12-13. Haltenorth, T. and H. Diller 1980. A Field Guide to the Mammals of Africa including Madagascar. London: Collins. Holman, D. 1967. The Elephant People. London: John Murray. Krapf, JL. and J. Rebmann 1887, A Nika-English Dictionary. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Lindblom, G. 1926. Notes on Kamba Grammar. Uppsala: Appelbergs Boktryckeri Aktiebolag. Parker, I. 1983. Ivory Crisis. London: Chatto and Windus. Rathbun, G.B. 1979. The Social Structure and Ecology of Elephant Shrews. Berlin and Hamburg: Verlag Pau! Parey. Sheldrick, D. 1973. The Tsavo Story. London: Collins and Harvill Press. Taylor, W.E. 1891a. Giriama Vocabulary and Collections. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Taylor, W.E. 1891b. African Aphorisms, or Saws from Swahililand. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Thoya, S.J. 1980. Kikwehu Ninakinhendza: Dekeha. Nairobi: East African Publishing House. Verdcourt, B. and E.C. Trump 1969. Common Poisonous Plants of East Africa. London: Collins. Walker, D.A. 1957. Giriama Arrow Poison: A Study in African Pharmacology and Ingenuity. The Central African Journal of Medicine, 3(6):226-228. 20