62 ON SURREY HILLS. 



ile," remarked a woodman to me once ; " it takes a 

 menjous lot o' adders tu git that lot o' ile frum ; an' 

 ye've got tu catch 'em fust." The oil was clear and 

 limpid it had the look of the best olive-oil. With a 

 little laudanum added to it, and briskly rubbed in 

 and about the part bitten, it is very efficacious. The 

 reason our forester's children do not get bitten is, 

 they know the habits of the creatures that surround 

 them as well as they do their own : their eyes and 

 ears have all the quickness of wild animals. They 

 know instantly if it is a bird, mouse, or reptile that is 

 moving ; and in the midst of their whort-picking you 

 hear some sturdy urchin yell out, " Roost up all on 

 ye ! there's a crawler handy, I hear un." 



Three varieties of the same species, which I have 

 captured on these hills, I have minutely examined 

 when alive, to the no small wonderment of the forest- 

 folks. The process was a very simple one : as the 

 viper coiled for the stroke I dropped my straw hat 

 over him, hived him, as they said. Then placing 

 the toes of both boots on the sides of the hat rim, I 

 gently raised a small portion of it in front. When 

 the creature saw daylight, after that sudden plunge 

 into darkness, he at once very cautiously poked his 



