POISONOUS SNAKES 109 



the colonel sat down to administer what first aid he 

 could to himself ; but when assistance arrived, ten 

 minutes or so later, he was dead. I once had a luckier 

 escape than I deserved from being bitten. As I was 

 walking through the bush a snake of some kind rustled 

 off through some long grass on the left, and I just caught 

 a glimpse of its tail disappearing down a hole. The 

 native with me said it was a python, so I walked up to 

 the hole a large one and peered in. I soon saw in 

 the semi-darkness what appeared to be part of a small 

 python coiled up a few feet down the hole, so I fired at 

 it with the little collector's gun I was carrying. In- 

 stantly something shot out of the hole like a big released 

 watch-spring, and came within three inches of my leg. 

 It was a mamba. Needless to say I lost no time in 

 placing a certain amount of distance between us. I 

 suppose he was too much injured by the shot to do more 

 than make one lunge, for on my returning armed with 

 a double-barrelled gun he had vanished down the hole. 



Mambas are not, under ordinary circumstances, in the 

 least aggressive, and, in fact, their great object is to 

 escape from man's presence as fast as possible. It is, 

 as with other snakes, the instinct of self-protection alone 

 which prompts them to strike. So-called charges are 

 usually but efforts to get away to some hiding-place. 

 I have never seen a wounded one attack, though they 

 often raise their heads threateningly, and no doubt would 

 lunge, if one came close enough to them. In any case, 

 a man armed with a shot-gun, or even a stout stick, 

 ought to be perfectly safe, provided and there lies the 

 risk he has time to use his weapon. However, there 

 are exceptions to every rule, especially where wild animals 

 are concerned, and the following is a reliable instance of 

 one : Wolhuter was riding along a native path one day 



