406 Mr. J. J. Quelch on the 



This snake is certainly the giant among vipers, a specimen 

 14 feet in length having been taken in the Colony by Mr. John 

 Junor. Specimens of from 8 to 12 feet are by no means 

 uncommon, especially in the higher districts of the north- 

 west, where they seem to be much more common than else- 

 where. It is certainly the species that is most feared locally, 

 being credited with the habit of attacking people whenever 

 met with. This, however, is not the case, for in the writer's 

 experience they have always remained as though asleep, and 

 even on disturbance merely raised the head, darting out the 

 tongue, as all these pit-vipers do, unless the disturbance be of 

 a more or less violent kind. From the size to which it attains 

 the bushmaster is, however, justly entitled to the dreadful 

 reputation which it bears. 



Under "Occasional Notes" in a former number of 'Timehri' 

 an incident is narrated on the authority of Mr. Barnard, the 

 well-known American mining expert in the Colony, of one 

 of these snakes being observed to give out from its mouth, 

 after being severely wounded, a number of small young 

 specimens. Mr. Barnard asseverates that there was not, nor 

 could there have been, any possible mistake of the anus for 

 the mouth, the snake being directly observed in the water 

 when it was struck. Since then another incident of the same 

 kind has been observed by him, also in the Upper Mazaruni 

 districts, and, there being no mistake, these incidents would 

 seem to show that young vipers do at times take refuge in the 

 mouth of their parent, however unlikely it may appear. 



The labarria (Lachesisatrox) includes not only the commonly 

 known form which passes under this name in the Colony, but 

 also the fer-de-lance and the jararaca, which are evidently 

 but varieties of one and the same widely distributed species. 



Like the bushmaster, they possess a terminal horny spine 

 and a black streak from the eye to the angle of the mouth ; 

 but the underside of the tail bears no small scales replacing 

 the subcaudal shields, and the supraocular shield is large. The 

 head, too, is much more sharply pointed, with distinct raised 

 edges, the part anterior to the eye forming almost a neat 

 triangle, and the scales are imbricated, being more elongate 

 than tuberculate. 



The colour of this species is very variable, ranging through 

 grey, brown, reddish, and yellow, or a mixture of them. The 

 rhombs are sometimes represented, but always faintly so — 

 triangular spaces, outlined by paler or darker streaks, and 

 with the apices above, being the most common — or the body 

 may be simply spotted or slashed with lighter or darker tints. 

 The underside may be uniform, or spotted, or blotched and 



