176 OUT OF DOORS. 



the spine, just behind the head. My friend followed 

 suit, and transfixed the snake about the middle of its 

 body. The farmers were quite aghast at our skill, and 

 it may be imagined we did not disabuse them of their 

 good opinion by attempting a repetition of the feat. 



After a number of experiments on the living viper 

 I found that the reptiles could never be induced to bite 

 at a stick, however great the provocation might be, but 

 that as soon as any living creature came within reach 

 they were sure to strike. The foresters were actuated 

 by a wholesome dread of the viper, but feared the 

 harmless blind worm far more than the really venomous 

 reptile. One of the labourers brought to me the upper 

 half of a blind worm squeezed tightly in his cap (the 

 creature having thrown off its tail according to custom), 

 and was almost pale with horror when I took it from 

 the cap with bare hands. Mr. Waterton's feat of 

 carrying twenty-seven living rattlesnakes from one 

 room to another afforded a sufficiently terrifying spec- 

 tacle, but in the eye of a genuine forester could not 

 compare with the prowess displayed in seizing a blind 

 worm with the bare hands. 



Perhaps the night walks in the forest afforded the 

 most pleasant reminiscences of our visit. At nightfall 

 we used to put a compass and some matches in our 

 pockets, and start for the depths of the forest, taking 

 care to step very gently so as to give no audible alarm, 

 and to keep ourselves well in the shade so as to avoid 

 detection by sight. It was most delightful to wander 



