Note 1 — Chapter XIII · DRINKING THE MBOUNDOU.—HOW OLANGA-CONDO COULD DO IT.—HOW THE MBOUNDOU IS MADE.—THE EFFECT OF THE POISON.

This mboundou pretty certainly belongs to a natural order that contains many venomous plants, viz., the Loganiaceæ; and, from the peculiar veining of the leaves, it is probably a species of Strychnos, belonging to that section of the genus which includes S. nux vomica.

The taste of the infusion is extremely bitter. I gave some of the roots to Professor John Torrey, of New York. In the book published by the Messrs. Harper, called “Explorations in Equatorial Africa,” I published the letter this able chemist wrote me on the properties of the mboundou.