CREATURES OF THE WILDERNESS 139 



SNAKES AND CROCODILES 



This short list of animals, which the sports- 

 man is likely to meet in India, while in no way 

 intended to be complete, must be brought to a 

 conclusion with a few words on two orders of 

 reptiles, with both of which he is certain to 

 come in contact sooner or later snakes and 

 crocodiles. The krait and cobra are deadly 

 reptiles, and their bite is the cause of thou- 

 sands of human lives being lost every year, for 

 nothing will cure the natives of going barefoot 

 through the jungle. This habit is doubly 

 fatal, since not only does it leave their feet and 

 ankles unprotected against the venomous fangs, 

 but it also means that they are continually, 

 with their silent tread, coming suddenly on 

 some basking snake, which, given no oppor- 

 tunity of escaping, is sure to strike. When, 

 on the contrary, Europeans come crashing 

 through the forest, the cobra, like the tiger, 

 always prefers to quit. The cobra is a familiar 

 snake in books and menageries, with the curious 

 hood, decorated with a pattern like a pair of 

 spectacles, which it spreads when angry. The 

 natural history books of other days used to tell 

 us that the cobra spread its hood in order to 

 scare its enemies. Such a result would be 

 interesting, only, unfortunately, it happens 

 only in books, for no one ever yet saw a dog 



