14 SNAKES IN SINDH. 



been seen in the direction of the Buttee Ferry, 

 about twenty miles from Khyrpoor. So the Meer 

 and his household were all excitement, as tigers 

 are very scarce game in Sindh; in fact, when 

 seen in the Khja-poor country, they are merely 

 stray animals which have crossed from tlie right 

 bank of the river. Much to the disappointment 

 of the Meer, the tiger crossed back to the west- 

 em side without His Highness having had an 

 opportunity of trying his shell gun at him. 



In no part of India Proper are there, I be- 

 lieve, so many venomous snakes as in Sindh ; 

 indeed, in the former it is rare to hear of an 

 accident, whereas the Sindh official returns 

 show tliat in 1855 above three hundred persons 

 died from snake bites, and I know that during 

 the time I was at Khyrpoor several persons lost 

 their lives from the same cause. Three, I re- 

 member, died on the same evening, after a 

 heavy shower, the only one I saw in Upper 

 Sindh, which I suppose set all creeping things 

 in motion, and the crumbling walls of the old 

 houses of the Ameers are filled with snakes, 

 that find therein a secure refuge from birds of 

 prey, which would otherwise decrease their 

 numbers. Two or three very large snakes were 



