POISONOUS SNAKES 107 



of old trees, are eggs laid and young born. When search- 

 ing in the latter places for genets or other mammals, 

 it is always well to take heed lest a mamba be unwittingly 

 disturbed. 



Rough stony kopjes covered with long grass are almost 

 certain to contain mambas, and caution should be ex- 

 ercised in walking about such places during the hot 

 weather I was once riding along the bank of a river, 

 and in passing under a thorn tree my hat happened to 

 get knocked off, and fell a few feet behind my pony's 

 tail, so pulling up I dismounted to recover it. On the 

 near side of the animal was the tree which had caused 

 the mishap, while on the off side, about two yards away, 

 lay a large ant-bear hole. Just as I was stooping to pick 

 up the hat there was a rustle amongst the bush and grass 

 lying at the foot of the tree, and out came a mamba, 

 which made straight for the hole, the way whereto took 

 him straight below my pony's body. When he was 

 exactly underneath it he suddenly caught sight of me, 

 stopped short, and, raising his crest about a foot, looked 

 fixedly at me, the forked tongue darting in and out. It 

 was a very critical moment, for though a shot-gun was 

 in my hands, I could not fire through the pony's hind legs, 

 and the slightest movement on its part would, I knew, 

 mean its certain death. The strain must have lasted 

 for nearly half a minute, and an uncommonly long half- 

 minute too, and all the time the pony, an old favourite, 

 trained like all veld-bred horses, to stand quite still 

 with the reins over its head, stood motionless, calmly 

 masticating a tuft of grass. Suddenly the snake dropped 

 his head, and, making a dive for the hole, disappeared 

 down it, to my inexpressible relief. It is at such moments 

 that one knows the meaning of " having one's heart in 

 one's mouth." 



