Note 10 — Chapter V
Reading edition
The “shambok” (a Dutch term) consists of a strip of the stoutest part of the hide of the rhinoceros or the hippopotamus. After being stretched on the ground, and when it has acquired a certain stiffness, the strip is subjected to a severe hammering, for the double purpose of condensing it and giving it a rounded shape. It is then reduced to the desired size by means of a knife or plane; and, lastly, a piece of sand-paper, or glass, if at hand, is employed to give it the finishing smoothness and polish. The “shambok” is exceedingly tough and pliable, will inflict the most severe wounds and bruises, and will last for years. The price of one of these “whips,” in the colony, varies from eighteen pence to as much as nine or ten shillings.