SPORT IN MOZAMBIQUE 



kinds of snakes which I have met, only one was at 

 all rare, and that I was lucky enough to take alive 

 and send to the museum. It is the oxybele of Lecomte, 

 which lives in trees, and particularly in the eucalyptus. 



Although not venomous, the python must be classed 

 among harmful snakes. By its strength and agility 

 it causes many accidents, and I have had in my service 

 a negro who had been struck down by a python, and 

 only escaped by the intervention of his comrades, 

 who had run up on hearing his cries. In my estima- 

 tion, however, the most formidable and the commonest 

 of the harmful snakes is the puff-adder (Bitis arietans), 

 called the sipiri by the Kafirs. It is like a gigantic 

 viper in structure, 2J feet long, about the thickness 

 of one's wrist, and armed with huge fangs producing 

 so much venom that I have sometimes collected 

 almost fifteen grains from a single snake. It is a 

 sluggish reptile, usually lying in ambush to attack 

 man instead of fleeing from him. I was able to secure 

 a fine living specimen, which is now in the museum. 

 Smaller, but quite as formidable, is the Causus rhom- 

 beatus, a greyish-black snake with a V-shaped mark 

 on the head, known to the Boers by the name of 

 nacht-ader. This also produces much venom, the 

 poison-glands having the peculiarity of being placed 

 much farther back on the head than is the case with 

 other venomous serpents. 



I will conclude the list by mentioning the spitting- 

 snake. This species attains a large size : I have seen 



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