A SNAKE STORY. 291 



poisonous (not characteristic of this family of reptiles), and, 

 consequently, feared them greatly. The Damaras call the 

 serpent in question the Ondara, and said that its chief food 

 was the rock-rabbit {hyrax capensis). Mr. Hahn had an op- 

 portunity of seeing one of these huge creatures, Avhich had 

 been accidentally killed by the people at Rehoboth. It meas- 

 ured eighteen feet in length.* 



I was told a very striking story of the Ondara, but I am 

 not at all prepared to vouch for its truth. 



Two Hill-Damaras had, it seems, gone in search of honey, 

 and having found a bees' nest in the cleft of a rock, one of them 

 made his way through the confined aperture that led to it 

 for the purpose of possessing himself of the honey-comb. But 

 he had not long been thus engaged when he discovered a nar- 

 row circular passage leading apparently right through the 

 nest. He told this to his comrade on the outside who sug- 

 gested that it was probably caused by a serpent. However, 

 seeing nothing to indicate the reptile's presence, he resumed 

 his labor, and, having secured the honey-comb, was about to 

 withdraw from the aperture, when, to his horror, he saw a 

 huge ondara making toward him. The reptile passed the 

 poor fellow in the first instance, but, suddenly turning round, 

 it plunged its mm-derous fangs into the man's body. The 

 poison was of so virulent a nature as to cause almost instan- 

 taneous death. The survivor, witnessing the fate of his 



as they believe that it has a certain influence over their destinies ; and 

 affirm that no person has ever been known to maltreat it without 

 sooner or later paying for his audacity." 



* Mr. Freeman, in " A Tour in South Africa," mentions having 

 heard of one of this kind of reptiles being destroyed that actually ex- 

 ceeded this size nearly three times. " This enormous serpent," says 

 the reverend gentleman, "was hanging from the bough of a large 

 tree, and was killed only after a desperate struggle. It measured fifty 

 feet in length. This was ascertained by a number of men lying down 

 at full length by its side. It took nine men to reach from the head to 

 the tail, and was of prodigious girth round the body,". 



