214 SNAKES. 



ing, or at night by torchlight, and say it is 

 difficult to get them during the daylight.* 



Snakes are numerous in various parts of the 

 colony. Those known among the colonists as 

 the " black and brown snakes," are found about 

 the banks of the rivers, or in swampy situations : 

 the natives (they are not, however, the best au- 

 thority for the extent of danger a venomous 

 snake produces) say that its bite is not deadly, 

 but causes the person to feel sick and sleepy for 

 a short time, which passes off without producing 

 any further ill effects, even if no remedy be 

 applied. 



It would be interesting to institute experi- 

 ments, so that the extent of danger attending 

 the bites of the venomous reptiles in the colony 

 might be ascertained with some degree of cor- 

 rectness. As far as regards this snake, I am 

 well informed by persons who have been bitten, 

 that the effects are as above stated ; but still it 

 would be interesting to know the degree of vio- 

 lence the poison is capable, of producing in each 

 of the venomous reptiles. I examined a '' black 



* In March the season commences, at Sydney, for " cray- 

 fish," which are caught in large quantities, and of enormous 

 size, about the sea-coast, and are hawked about the streets 

 at a cheap rate ; therefore, in this colony, cray-fish abound 

 in the sea, and lobsters in the river. 



