"If they do, it's all up with us," murmured Ned.
After their first rush, finding that the white men were on the
alert, the blacks withdrew some distance, where their spears and
arrows were not so effective. Our friends, including Andy Foger, and
the German, kept up a hot fire whenever a skulking black form could
be seen.
But, though the danger from the spears and arrows was less, a new
peril presented itself. This was from the blow guns. The curious
weapons shot small arrows, tipped with tufts of a cottony substance
in place of feathers, and could be sent for a long distance. The
barbs were not strong enough to pierce the tough fabric of the gas
bag, as a spear or arrow would have done, but there was more danger
from them to our friends who were on deck.
"Those barbs may be poisoned," said Mr. Durban, "and in case any one
is wounded, the wound, though it be but a scratch, must be treated
with antiseptics. I have some."
This course was followed, the elephant hunter being wounded twice,
and Andy Foger and Mr. Damon once each. There was not a native to be
seen now, for they were hiding behind the trees of the jungle, but
every now and then a blowgun barb would whizz out of the forest.
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