290 UNDER THE AFRICAN SUN 



green snake, which I had not observed, was accidentally killed 

 by the shot and dropped from the overhanging branches into 

 the water. 



What strange tent companions one may have, I experienced 

 at Mtiabua on the east shore of Lake Albert. We had camped 

 on a sandy tongue of land, sparsely dotted with bush and shrub; 

 I was dressing, and my Arab servant was removing something 

 or other from the tent, preparatory to our striking tent for the 

 day's march, when a snake sprung and struck at his hand, but 

 fortunately only hit his sleeve. We soon killed it. It was three 

 feet long, and had a lovely geometrical pattern in red-brow-n 

 along its back. 



When visiting the Murchison Falls of the Victoria Nile, some 

 one just called out in time, as we were about to pass underneath 

 a branch on which lay extended a silver-grey tree-snake. The 

 wav this creature slid swiftly and noiselessly along the branches, 

 and from one bush to another, was simply marvellous. Twice 

 at Fovira did I see water-snakes in the Nile ; the one was 

 close to the shore, where Soudanese w^omen went to bathe and 

 to fetch water ; the other started boldly from our side of the 

 bank, and, though the river is here over half a mile broad, 

 attempted to swim across to the other side, but meeting one 

 of the small floating islands of papyrus sudd, it cleverly 

 wriggled up a papyrus-stem, and thus secured for itself a 

 free passage on it down the Nile. 



At the Makindo river, on my fifth journey, I was on the 

 point of entering one of the many small, scattered clumps of 

 bushes, when I fortunately noticed, and had just time to jump 

 back, a snake, part of it standing erect, three feet high. Its head 

 was slightly drawn back, and it was ready to strike. I had 

 a narrow escape. On my sixth journey, I watched at Kiwalo- 

 goma, in Uganda, a small brownish tree-snake climbing the 

 perpendicular trunk of a big tree with comparative ease and 

 rapidity. It was much too small to encircle the tree trunk, but 

 its writhing body took advantage of minute inequalities in the 

 bark, found support thereon, and used them as a sort of ladder. 



The most dreaded snake is the deadly puff-adder ; I have 

 shot tw^o specimens. The first one was on my third journev, 

 at the Kedong. It had been raining incessantly for days, and 

 the camp looked like a swamp. Walking along in single lile, I 

 was passing a large boulder, when I saw one of these hateful 



