194: pioneer life; ob, 



together. The ones which I owned were both 

 males, and one was yellow and the other black. 

 The black one was bitten by the other, from the 

 effect of which it died in about a week. In July 

 they lay their eggs in the sand on the margin of 

 rivers and creeks, a little above high water mark. 

 The eggs are about as large as those of a quail, and 

 are all deposited at one time. They always lay an 

 odd number, seven, nine or eleven. After leaving 

 their eggs in the sand for about four weeks they 

 return and swallow them. I never saw this done, 

 but I have watched the place where the eggs were 

 deposited, and at the end of four weeks the eggs 

 were gone, the sand disturbed and the track of the 

 snake could be seen. An old man named James 

 English has told me that he had seen them swallow 

 their eggs, and at one time about the middle of 

 September, he saw a number of small snakes issue 

 from the mouth of the old one, and as she moved on, 

 they followed. I cannot vouch for the truth of this 

 as I never witnessed any thing of the kind, but have 

 killed snakes in September, with live young in them. 

 In my opinion the snakes swallow the eggs when 

 they are about to hatch, in order to preserve the 

 young until they attain some size. From the middle 

 of June to the middle of August, the male and 

 female are never far apart. The female takes the 

 lead, and the male follows within a short distance. 

 If the female is killed at this season, her mate will 

 always bo found near her within three days. A 

 person of my acquaintance killed a female snake 



