425 The Australian Bush, 



Considering the abundance of venomous snakes one meets with 

 in all parts of the bush, it is very rarely that one hears of a bushman 

 being bitten, and a black fellow never. I never was bitten by a 

 snake. If such a casualty had occurred I should have cut the place 

 with my knife, bound up my limb tight about the bite, flashed off a 

 charge of powder in the wound, and gone up to Melbourne as 

 soon as I could. I fancy a snake here is always more anxious to 

 avoid than to commence the attack 3 and unless you actually tread 

 on one, or pick it up by mistake, there is little to fear. It appears 

 that by constant practice the eye becomes so accustomed to range 

 over the ground, that in most instances one sees the snake, let it be 

 coiled up ever so snugly. The snakes here all retire to their winter 

 quarters in March, and do not appear again till September. There 

 is no danger to be apprehended either from snakes or black fellows 

 at night, for at this time these latter gentlemen are afraid to leave 

 their camp-fire. 



Of the minor bush annoyances I may mention scorpions and 

 centipedes, principally met with in dry, stony places, the bites of 

 both which are dangerous, but never fatal 3 large spiders, or, as we 

 used to call them, " triantulopes," as large as penny-pieces 3 bulldog 

 ants an inch long, and thousands of blowflies, musquitoes, and 

 little sand-flies — the latter, so small as scarcely to be perceptible to 

 the naked eye, are constantly invading the tent. But these annoy- 

 ances need deter no one from taking the bush. 



The list of fresh-water fish peculiar to these waters is very meagre, 

 and I fancy the eel is about the most useful one to the bushman. 

 Any one who is going to camp out should be provided with an eel- 

 spear, hooks and twine of diflerent sizes, and a long fine trammel or 

 two, for most of these water-holes and creeks abound in fish of 

 some kind or another, which at times may prove a very useful and 

 agreeable addition to the bushman's larder. If, however, these 

 waters did aflbrd first-rate sport, and even when they have succeeded 

 in acclimatizing our salmon (I hope my head will never ache till I 

 see a salmon caught in the Yarra), I do not think angling" is ever 

 likely to become a favourite amusement with the present race of 



