148 THE GREAT THIRST LAND. 



is obvious ; in handling the adder, some of the smell 

 attached to its body must have adhered to my hands. 

 How great and wise are the provisions of nature ! 



Besides the virulence of the puff-adder, there is 

 another reason why it is more to be dreaded than the 

 majority of other snakes. It is almost exactly the 

 colour of the dark-brown sand, and is invariably to be 

 found on it, with the lower part of the body slightly 

 submerged in it. Again nature's wondrous handiwork 

 shows itself ; for if the colour of the ground and reptile 

 did not closely approximate, how could so sluggish an 

 animal obtain its prey ? True, it can make one short 

 quick spring, but it cannot crawl over the ground with 

 the swiftness of other species. 



Leaving the snakes alone (and a man who hunts in 

 Africa will never be successful if he fears a snake in 

 every bush or under every tuft of grass he passes, for 

 his eyes must be elsewhere than watching his feet), I 

 mounted the pony, and continued round the point of the 

 hill. As I climbed one slope I saw several spring-buck 

 and bless -buck go over the opposite ridge ; so, bearing 

 off more to the right, so as to improve the wind, I 

 cautiously advanced in the direction I thought they had 

 taken. A large rock lay in my route, and under its 

 shelter I left the pony, and keeping both dogs close to 

 me, I carefully approached the crest with cocked rifle. 

 A spring-buck, unconscious of my presence, stood three 

 hundred yards off ; at least, I judged that to be about 

 the distance. I took a cool collected aim, and pressed 

 the trigger ; the ball passed over its back ; with the re- 

 port a bless-buck, which must have been within fifty 

 yards of me, jumped up ; the dogs saw it in an instant, 

 and were in pursuit, while I greeted the quarry with 



