ZOOLOGY 409 



the breeding season) or to the puff-adder. The dreadful viper, or puft"- 

 adder, which bears the scientific name of Bitis gabonica, is very common 

 in Uganda, and its bite is perhaps more rapidly and surely fatal than 

 that of any other venomous snake. Nevertheless, it is not, as far as I can 

 learn, a creature of aggressive malice, and is so far sluggish that the si)ecimen 

 from which this painting was made was kept by me in captivity for some 

 time with very little objection on its part. It used occasionally to escape, 

 and would then allow itself to be picked up and brought back by the 

 neoro servants without any attempt at biting. In the cage where it lived, 

 however, were three enormous pythons, and the pythons used to annov it 

 by rolling their huge bulk over its body. When they were particularlv 

 exasperating, it would turn and bite them, and a bite with its formidable 

 fangs would be followed by the spurting forth of two little streams of 

 blood. Nevertheless, the death of the pythons did not follow as instan- 

 taneously as we knew would have been the case with warmer-blooded 

 creatures ; they only became ill, and lingered for two days before they 

 finally died. 



The coloration of this puff-adder is perhaps more vivid and beautifiil 

 than in any other snake. It is like a carpet pattern of alternate black, 

 greenish yellow, mauve, and buff; while by the inflation of the bodv 

 white edges to the scales ai'e often shown. Soon after death these colours 

 fade away completely and the dry skin gives no idea of the blooming 

 tints of the live animal. I write " blooming," because the beauty of these 

 colours is enhanced by a delicate bloom which appears on the scales, and 

 which softens the tints so that the whole design might have been painted 

 on velvet. 



Large pythons are very common, especially in Uganda proper. They 

 eat beasts from a goat to a rat in size, and even condescend to devour 

 frogs and toads. They rarely, if ever, seem to attack human beings, and 

 the natives have little dread of them, often putting their Iiands into the 

 hole where the python takes refuge and dragging out the unwilling 

 snake. I kept a number of these snakes in captivity for al)out a \ ear, 

 and some of them became quite tame. The longest python we measured 

 reached to nearly seventeen feet. 



Among fish may specially be noted the "niamba" of the Bagandn, the 

 Protopterus, or lung-fish. This animal is very abundant in the waters 

 ■of the Victoria Nyanza. To those to whom it is not a totem the flesh 

 appears very succulent and nourishing, but the Protopterus is greatly 

 dreaded by the fishermen. It has sharp teeth, which are really serrated 

 ridges of bone, and with these it inflicts very severe bites. Moreover, it 

 will take the offensive quite readily. Some of these . mud-fish grow to 



