358 AN ANGLER'S RAMBLES 



can scarcely avoid doing so. The reptile is usually found occu- 

 pying, in a coiled state, the centre of some mossy patch or open- 

 ing in the heather, to the cover of which, on being disturbed, it 

 will, in most instances, quickly retreat. Except when trodden 

 on, there is little danger of the adder acting on the offensive. I 

 recollect once, however, when fishing for salmon on the Black- 

 water, in the month of February, close to Contin Bridge, coming 

 suddenly upon two large adders basking, not in the coiled state, 

 but at full stretch, on a bare portion of the bank. Instead of 

 betraying apprehension, they simultaneously, with violent sibila- 

 tions, erected themselves on the ventral portion of their bodies, 

 their necks stretched, and heads thrown forward, in the shape of 

 a kettle-spout. Stepping back, I called the attention of the Coul 

 gamekeeper, by whom I was accompanied, to the presence of 

 these reptiles, and their menacing attitude. He happened to 

 have his gun along with him, and as they were about, after vent- 

 ing forth their spite for several seconds in the manner related, to 

 attempt an escape, a discharge from one of the barrels blew the 

 nearer one to shivers ; the other contriving to glide out of sight 

 through a crevice on the bank. The time of the year when this 

 occurrence took place, coupled with the condition of the atmo- 

 sphere, which was cold and frosty, make it somewhat extraor- 

 dinary ; the supposition among naturalists being, that strong and 

 continuous heat is required to arouse the viper, and serpents in 

 general, from their hibernating and torpid condition to one of 

 conscious activity. 



With the ringed snake (Natrix torquata], common in the south 

 of England, I was not so fortunate in this quarter as to form an 

 acquaintance. The only places in Scotland where I have come 

 across it are Glen Gyle, at the head of Loch Katrine, and the 

 hill in Selkirkshire skirting St. Mary's Loch, on which the chapel 

 dedicated to ' The Lady of the Lowes' formerly stood. This 

 reptile, I am told, is frequently met with in Dumfriesshire, a 



