58 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.73 



This fine reptile was encountered in open maiombo forest and 

 wriggled across our route. I gave chase and threw my stick at it as 

 it speeded up; this caused it to raise its hood, but it came on (I had 

 headed it off meantime), and being stickless I stepped aside; it passed 

 me with a rush and went down a hole only a yard from where I had 

 been standing. 



Though flush with the ground this hole appeared to be part of 

 some old termite galleries. 



By means of a hoe I had the surrounding vegetation cleared in a 

 10-foot circle. This revealed another hole, which I plugged; then 

 putting a long stick down the central shaft I stirred it around; in a 

 matter of seconds up shot the cobra's head and it spat as I retreated. 

 This occurred three times, but the snake refused to come out. Dig- 

 ging in the hard ground with the hoe disclosed the fact that it had 

 retired into a side gallery. Out of this I poked it, but this only resulted 

 in its taking refuge in another, where I was successful in pinning 

 down its neck with a forked stick and taking it out. It spat between 

 a dozen and twenty times, and its venom was in no way exhausted 

 right to the end, for when putting it into the bag it nearly hit Salimu, 

 who was holding the bag for me. 



At 9.30 o'clock in the morning on the previous day I had seen the 

 head of a black snake protruding from a knot hole in a maiombo tree, 

 the hole was 53^ feet from the ground. Thinking it was either a 

 Dispholidus typus or Rhamnophis jacksonii, and without giving N. 

 nigricollis a thought, I walked up to within 4 feet, twiddhng the fin- 

 gers of my left hand while I imperceptibly approached my snake stick 

 with the right to within 2 inches of his neck. 



During this time my eyes were fixed on the oblique scales of a few 

 inches of his neck, which confirmed my idea of a boomslang; also the 

 head seemed much narrower than that of a cobra. I pinned him by 

 the back of the neck against the side of the knot hole, but this being 

 very smooth and the snake having plenty of purchase power he jerked 

 his head free and disappeared into the hole, giving me as he did so a 

 glimpse of white scaling on the throat. For the first time I realized 

 the snake was a spitting cobra to whom I had been presenting my 

 eyes as a target at a range of 4 feet. 



I poked a wand 10 feet up inside the tree without effect, then got 

 Salimu to cut away the earth, termites, and decayed wood which filled 

 a hole at the base of the tree. Presently he thrust his bush knife 

 into space and triumphantly announced the way clear. Poking with 

 the wand had no effect, so we lit a smoky grass fire at the base of the 

 tree, but very little smoke drew into the trunk, owing to the fact that 

 the wind was unfavorable. Salimu raked out the smoldering grass 

 and again poked his " panga " into the hole, then jumped back exclaim- 

 ing " Tayari " (ready) as the cobra's tail flopped into view. I grabbed 



