SNAKES. 113 



so beautiful ; but when my boy came up he 

 screamed out, " Oh, Missisi ! come away ! " and 

 seemed frightened at my narrow escape. 



Kafirs, of course, know of various roots and 

 leaves which they apply to snake-bites, and they 

 also burn the heads of poisonous snakes, and 

 carefully keep the ashes to rub in the wound, 

 saying it is a most valuable remedy. 



One night I had a large snake much nearer to 

 me than was exactly pleasant. I was calling 

 the kitten in before shutting up for the night, 

 when I heard a horrible loud hissing noise quite 

 close to my feet, but it was so dark a night that 

 I could see nothing. The thought of snakes 

 crossed my mind at once, but yet the noise 

 seemed almost too great to be made by a snake. 

 After some minutes it gradually grew fainter 

 and fainter. The dog was lying very still at my 

 feet, which I thought strange, as he generally 

 wants to investigate everything he sees or hears. 

 The kitten did not appear, and presently back 

 came the horrid hissing noise, and came so very 



close that I retreated into the house with the 



H 



