376 The Naturalist in La Plata. 
ture froma large area of country; and although 
there was no water, the soft fresh grass must have 
been grateful to them. Snakes are seen coiled up 
when they are at home; when travelling and far 
afield, they lie as a rule extended full length, even 
when resting—and they are generally resting. 
Pausing at leneth, before quitting this green plain, 
to give my horse a minute’s rest, I got off and 
approached a large snake; but when I was quite 
twelve yards from it, it lifted its head, and, turning 
deliberately round, came rather swiftly at me. I 
retreated, and it followed, until, springing on to my 
horse, I left it, greatly surprised at its action, and 
beginning to think that it must be venomous. As 
I rode on the feeling of surprise increased, con- 
quering haste; and in the end, seeing more snakes, 
I dismounted and approached the largest, when 
exactly the same thing occurred again, the snake 
rousing itself and coming angrily at me when | was 
still (considering the dull lethargic character of the 
deadliest kinds) at an absurd distance from it. 
Again and again I repeated the experiment, with the 
same result. And at length I stunned one with a 
blow of my whip to examine its mouth, but found 
no poison-fangs in it. 
I then resumed my journey, expecting to meet 
with more snakes of the same kind at my destina- 
tion; but there were none, and very soon business 
called me to a distant place, and I never met with 
this species afterwards. But when I rode away 
from that green spot, and was once more on the 
higher, desolate, wind-swept plain surrounding it— 
a rustling sea of giant thistles, still erect, although 
