AUSTRALIAN SNAKES. 63 



An expedition was engaged in exploring the mountainous 

 interior of New Guinea. The nature of the country 

 only allowed the party, which was thirty or forty strong, 

 to march one behind the other in Indian file along a 

 native footpath. Seeing a sudden disturbance in the 

 rear, a halt was called, and the cause was found to be 

 a Death Adder. A bare-footed native carrier had seen 

 it lying in the path jnst in time to avoid stepping on it. 

 Every man before him had stepped over it, missing his 

 death by a handsbreadth. The boot-print of the officer 

 who led the file was stamped in the clay but two inches 

 from the adder's head. 



The reptile is also frequently termed Deaf Adder, 

 in allusion, some suppose, to its apathy and apparent 

 deafness. It is, however, more probable that the name 

 is borrowed from the Bible (Psalms Iviii., 4.) 



The Death Adder is a short, thick, and clumsy 

 reptile, seldom seen longer than about two feet, but 

 occasionally obtained of a greater size. The largest I 

 have seen measures two feet five and a-half inches, but 

 it is the only specimen 1 know at all approaching such 

 dimensions. In color it is usually of a dirty grey, but 

 may be met with of brownish, or even reddish tints, 

 due, apparently, to the color of its immediate sur- 

 roundings. In all cases the body is crossed with from 

 forty to fifty darker rings, which may almost disappear 

 in aged specimens. The ventral scales vary in color, 

 and are usually clouded with black. 



