154 SA^AKES. 



we may give a passing mention to Du Chaillu's snakes, all 

 of which appear to be of the whistling, as well as of the 

 * springing ' kind. He saw ' an enormous black shining 

 snake, loathsome and horrid.' ... ' Then the fellow gave 

 a spring, and whistled in a most horrid manner.' And when 

 he was wounded, he again 'gave a sharp whistle.' On 

 another occasion, while a Goree man was playing with a 

 large Naja, 'the air around seemed to be filled with the 

 whistling sound of the creature,' and so on. 



Another African snake, the ' Green Mamba,' has such 

 very bad manners that it not only hisses, but spits and darts 

 at you. In this instance my informant was a young lady, 

 who had ' seen it ! ' 



Somewhat more perplexing, because more deserving of 

 notice, is what Livingstone tells us of a serpent called Nega- 

 piit-sane, or ' serpent of a kid,' which ' utters a cry by night 

 exactly like the bleating of that animal,' and that he had 

 ' heard one at a spot where no kid could possibly have 

 been,' ^ 



^ II canta como un gallo! said Albert Seba of an astonishing 

 snake in Hayti and St. Domingo once. 



* Beyond a hissing and often a peculiar drumming noise, 

 snakes emit no sound,' says Krefift, one of our very able 

 authorities.^ This experienced writer does not positively 

 affirm that the ' drumming' is produced by the voice, and it 

 is more likely to proceed from the beating of an agitated 

 tail, an action which may be frequently witnessed in excited 

 snakes. 



^ Missionary Travels in South Africa, by David Livingstone. 

 ^ Snakes of Australia, by Gerard Krefift. 



