HOW ONE WAS CAPTURED. 185 
in colouration only. The typical kind is black above with 
irregular cross markings of brown. The abdomen is livid black, 
with sometimes a few of the scales white. The throat is banded 
with one, sometimes two, white or yellowish bands across the 
neck—hence the name Ringhals, which is a Dutch word meaning 
Ring-neck. A peculiarity of the Ringhals is that the abdomen 
is very shiny, and the back dull, rough, and dingy. The other 
variety is termed the Zwart Ringhals, which means Black 
Ringhals. The colouration is entirely black often without any 
trace of the white collar or transverse brown bands on the back. 
In some of the specimens a few odd shields on the abdomen are 
blotched with white. This black variety attains a greater length 
and thickness than the former. 
I kept a large specimen under careful observation, and 
immediately it shed its old skin I removed it from its cage and 
examined it in a strong light, and counted over half a dozen of 
the wavy brown markings across its back. Within a week, 
however, these faded from view. This goes to show the typical 
Ringhals is the one with the wavy brown markings, and that the 
black one is a modification or variety, having lost its brown 
markings, due doubtless to climatic conditions. 
How ONE was CAPTURED 
Mr. Godlonton, at Fort Beaufort, Cape Colony, captured a 
magnificent specimen of the Black Ringhals. It measured four 
feet eleven inches. He came across it on his farm. It lay 
basking in the sun at the entrance to a hole, down which it glided 
on observing hirh. He summoned assistance, and after tracing 
the hole for over seven feet, he came across the snake about a 
foot from the surface of the ground. He pinned it down with a 
forked stick, and seizing it by the neck, between his finger and 
thumb, thrust it into a biscuit tin and despatched it alive to me. 
It looked quite a giant in comparison with the other Ringhals 
in the cage. For the first couple of weeks it fiercely resented the 
visitors who peered at it through the plate glass of the cage. 
From time to time it would send a shower of venom at them, 
which bespattered the glass. For some time it was so fierce, the 
assistant was obliged to be exceedingly careful when opening the 
