io8 BRITISH REPTILES 
its mouth when it strikes ; the tip of the muzzle only 
touches the hand. 
One fine specimen, perfectly tame, that I had 
when I was in the forest lands, would rest perfectly 
contented hanging round my bare neck for hours as 
I worked, to the horror and wonder of the rustics who 
were about there. 
At times it would examine my face with its tongue 
in all directions, making a most minute inspection 
of it 
Three or four men who were near me once chanced 
to see this. From a respectable distance they told 
me that they believed that I had 'dealings with 
familiar spirits an' old Cocky- Hoop,' their name for 
his Satanic Majesty. This opinion of me altered 
before I left the district ; but if I visit them now, as 
I do at times, before they shake hands with me the 
old question is asked : ' Ain't got any on 'em 'bout ye 
now, hev ye ? ' 
I have, in the course of my lifetime, kept them all ; 
but that is a true old saying, ' A place for everything 
and everything in its place,' and a well-kept and well- 
ordered house is not the place to keep reptiles in. 
The line must be drawn somewhere, and the lady of 
my house draws the line tightly at snakes. Yet, if 
the general public knew the real nature of the 
