3 



HUNTING TRIPS 



watch over my movements; when the stalk 

 was over (the antelope took alarm and ran 

 off before I was within rifle-shot) I came 

 back, hunted up the snake, and killed it. 

 Although I have known of several men 

 being bitten, I loiow of but one case where 

 the bite caused the death of a human being. 

 This was a girl who had been out milk- 

 ing, and was returning, in bare feet ; the 

 snake struck her just above the ankle, and 

 in her fright she fell and was struck again 

 in the neck. The double wound was too 

 much for her, and the poison killed her in 

 the course of a couple of hours. 



Occasionally one meets a rattlesnake 

 whose rattle has been lost or injured; and 

 such a one is always dangerous, because 

 it strikes without warning. I once nearly 

 lost a horse by the bite of one of these 

 snakes without rattles. I was riding along 

 a path when my horse gave a tremendous 

 start and jump ; looking back I saw that it 

 had been struck at by a rattlesnake with 

 an injured tail, which had been lying hid 



