THE BIG GAME OF AFRICA 



however, probably very rarely clone, for the snake, in spite 

 of its great strength, shares the fear of man with the rest 

 of the animal creation. 



The first python I ever saw in the jungle was killed 

 under quite dramatic circumstances. We had left our 

 camp one morning at a place on the Mau Escarpment, 

 where we had spent the night at an altitude of over 7,000 

 feet. After about an hour's march through thick forest, 

 we came into a more open country, where lots of charred 

 tree trunks, many of which had fallen down, gave evidence 

 of a previous fierce forest fire. Our march was somewhat 

 hindered here by these fallen trees, over which we had to 

 climb. Suddenly I stepped over something that made my 

 foot slip, and which slid away from under my boot, but I 

 did not think anything of it at the time. The first and 

 second men behind me also passed the same obstruction 

 without noticing anything particular, but the third man 

 gave a tremendous yell, and as I quickly turned around I 

 saw the head of a large python come hissing over the 

 ground, as it seemed ready to throw itself over the terrified 

 porter. 



The rifle I carried that morning was the little Mann- 

 licher, and, quicker than I can describe it, I fired at the 

 head of the monster, hitting it squarely in its open mouth, 

 as it was facing me at that moment. The bullet went 

 clean through the head, and at such close distance of only 

 about seven to eight yards, the velocity of the bullet almost 

 exploded the whole head, and thus instantly killed the 

 python. None of the porters wanted to venture into the 

 grass to pull the reptile out, for they feared that it was 

 still alive; so I went in myself, and grasping the python 



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