REPTILES NUMEROUS THE COBRA DI CAPELLA. 293 



its head, like the Guinea-fowl, it has a horny protuberance of 

 a reddish color. It dwells chiefly in trees. Its chuckle is 

 heard at nightfall ; and people, imagining that the noise pro- 

 ceeds from one of their own domestic fowls that has strayed, 

 hasten to drive it home. But this frequently causes their 

 destruction ; for, as soon as the cockatrice perceives its vic- 

 tim within reach, it darts at it with the speed of lightning ; 

 and if its fangs enter the flesh, death invariably ensues. Tim- 

 bo informed me that he once saw a dog belonging to his fa- 

 ther thus killed. Moreover, the cockatrice, like the wild dog, 

 wantonly destroys more at a time than it can consume. 



Notwithstanding the dryness of the soil and the atmos- 

 phere between the Orange River and the seventeenth or 

 eighteenth degrees of south latitude, reptiles are rather numer- 

 ous. Indeed, some parts of Damara-land are so infested by 

 them as to be almost uninhabitable. For my own part, how- 

 ever, I have encountered comparatively few. I never saw 

 the cobra di capella, though it does exist in these regions. 

 It is common enough in the colony, and is even met with in 

 the neighborhood of the Table Mountain. 



An acquaintance of mine had a remarkable escape from 

 this reptile. Being passionately fond of botany, he was one 

 day studying the flora of the so-called " Cape Flats." Having 

 discovered a rare plant, he was stooping down to gather it, 

 when up started a cobra immediately beneath his hand. My 

 friend had no time to turn round, but retreated backward as 

 quickly as his legs would carry him. The serpent, however, 

 was fast gaining ground, and, had the chase lasted a few sec- 

 onds longer, must inevitably have caught him ; but just at 

 this critical moment my friend stumbled over an ant-hill and 

 fell to the ground on his back, and while in this position he 

 saw, to his inexpressible relief, the enraged cobra dash furi- 

 ously past him. 



Pringle says that this snake has been known to dart at a 

 man on horseback, and *' with such force as to overshoot its 



