10 NAJA. 
aggressive ; and unless interfered with or irritated, they crawl along the 
ground with the neck undilated, looking not unlike innocent snakes ; 
but the moment they are disturbed, they assume the menacing attitude 
I have described. 
“The Naja Tripudians (the only species), or Cobra, grows to the 
length of five feet and a half, or even more. On one occasion I received 
a Jiving female cobra from Nagpore, C.P., sent by Dr. W. B. Beatson. 
It was of the variety called ‘Kurrees Gokurrah,’ of a light chocolate 
colour, without any mark on the hood. It was five feet eight inches 
long, including the tail, which measured eleven and a quarter inches. 
In girth it was six and a quarter inches. It was very powerful and 
fierce, and Dr. Beatson told me that it killed a fowl in one minute. 
“This was the largest cobra I have seen, but I believe they attain 
even a greater size than this. The cobra is found all over Hindostan 
up to eight thousand feet high in the Himalaya; but Mr. Hodgson says 
he has never seen it in the Nepaul valley.* It is equally dreaded and 
fatal everywhere. The varieties are numerous, and they are distin- 
guished by the markings on the hood, and by various shades of colour, 
from the darkest olive or black, with a purple iridescence, to a pale 
chocolate, fawn, or yellow colour. They are all, notwithstanding their 
differences of colour or marking, considered by naturalists to be but 
varieties of one species. They have various names in different parts of 
India, and are regarded by the snake-catchers as different species, and 
as having different' powers of destruction. Such differences most likely 
depend on age, vigour, or other circumstances, as naturally the intensity 
of the poison of the different varieties is probably about equal. 
“The cobra is a nocturnal snake—that is, it is most active in the 
night ; but it is often seen moving about in the day. It is oviparous ; 
the eggs, from eighteen to twenty-five in number, are obovate, and 
about the size of those of a pigeon; the shell is white, but tough and 
leathery. The cobras feed on small animals, birds’ eggs, frogs, fish, or 
insects ; they rob hen-roosts, and swallow the eggs whole; they prefer 
taking their food at dusk or in the night. They are said to drink a 
great deal of water; but it is certain that they will live weeks, even 
months, in captivity, without touching food or water. They go into 
* Fayrer has seen it in the Oude Terai. 
