Its really been interesting doing more reading on these poison arrows, so I hope I might add more to the notes I have already posted. There may be someone else interested in this topic either sometime soon or in the future, and if someone is inclined to use the search, the information might be helpful.
Apparantly the use of poison arrows dates well into the 15th century, with one of the first known instances of a European felled by one in 1447 near the mouth of the Gambia river in West Africa ("Alkaloids: Biochemistry, Ecology and Medicinal Applications", Margaret F.Roberts and Michael Wink).
Apparantly the poisons used had often complex and varying mixtures of components, and the authors note that "...the unique variety and complexity of African hunting poisons, together with a secrecy that appeared totally inseparable has made thier identification and investigation difficult".
The poisons mentioned as primary in these compositions seem to have had other substances added for various purposes, such as adherence to the weapon, as well as to increase toxicity, not to mention certain magically regarded properties.
It is noted that the poison was typically placed behind the tip, so that the fresh poison would not be stripped away as it penetrated the skin.
The barb seems to have the obvious purpose of keeping the arrowhead in the victim, even if shaft is broken off leaving the poisonous material in place.
I have not yet been able to find examples of arrows resembling closely enough these examples, however I did find that unfletched arrows are common across the Sudan, and it is noted that the quivers range from simple hide pouches to wood and leather cylinders (Grayson archery collection, University of Missouri, Museum of Anthropology, Columbia, Mo. 2006).
It is noted in this material that without use of powerful poisons, the African arrows tend to be relatively weak and ineffective. This seems like a rather vague statement considering the wide variety of arrows over many tribes covering an entire continent, however it seemed worthy of note.
In "Economic History of Tropical Africa" by Z. Konczacki and J.Konczacki, there are references to early iron arrowheads with single barbs in the Sudan, but the reference was unclear and was made noting that these 'typical' Sudanic iron arrows were not found in archaeology in Meroe regions from 3rd c. AD.
Hopefully some of these references may be found helpful for anyone seriously pursuing study on the topic of poison arrows in West Africa.
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