184 ANIMAL SKETCHES. CHAP. 



before so slow, was quickened. Turning in its course it 

 perceived me standing near. For a moment the head was 

 yet further raised and thrown well back, while the hood 

 was again fully expanded; and then he glided swiftly 

 beneath the granite boulder and I saw him no more. I 

 had never before seen a snake to such advantage. The 

 setting of the scene was congruous. In the distance 

 beyond the granite boulder lay False Bay, steeped in sun- 

 shine and backed by the clear-cut outline of the 

 mountains of the mainland ; around stood glistening silver 

 trees and sweet-flowered sugar bushes; above were the 

 stern bastions of Table Mountain. But my attention was 

 riveted by the glittering fascination of the cobra. Ad- 

 miration, not horror, held me. Even the killing instinct 

 forsook me, and I felt no desire to slay the timid but 

 terrible creature. 



My first experience of South African death-dealing 

 snakes was somewhat different. One of my pupils 

 brought me down in a large cigar-box a " ring-hals slang," 

 a deadly and courageous snake not uncommon at the Cape, 

 and turned him out on the stoep (verandah) for our 

 delectation. He was a spiteful little fellow, with an 

 ominous hood, dark glossy skin, and glistening brown eye. 

 He struck viciously at the cigar-box held up before him, 

 indenting the wood and moistening it with venom and 

 saliva. I was particularly anxious to dissect out the 

 poison-gland and examine the poison-fang of this snake, 

 so my friend kindly presented it to me, replacing it in the 

 cigar-box, which he tied securely. After examining the 

 fastenings, I placed the box on the window-sill of my 

 bedroom, which looked out into the stoep, and left it there 

 for the night. Next morning I procured a large washing 

 pan, big enough to drown a small python, placed the cigar- 

 box therein, loaded it with a couple of bricks, and poured 



