142 ADVENTURES OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER CH. 



While we were at the same camp at Chimbunga's 

 village, a native woman left the kraal to visit 

 another village some miles distant, carrying on her 

 head a majamanda, or native basket, and on her 

 back, tied securely to her, her little child. As she 

 threaded her way along the path that wound 

 through the forest, her child suddenly gave vent to 

 a pained cry, but comforting the mite, and unaware 

 of what had happened, the mother continued on her 

 way, and only discovered on arriving at her destina- 

 tion that her babe was dead. On the top of the 

 infant's head, the flesh of which was all swollen up, 

 were the indentations made by a snake's fangs. 



Several natives of Chimbunga's village had been 

 killed at this identical spot, doubtless by the same 

 snake, and strangely enough, some weeks after the 

 unhappy incident narrated above, when I was 

 travelling along the same path on the way to a 

 distant village, where an elephant had been plunder- 

 ing the native shambas, my trackers pointed out to 

 me a large snake coiled round a branch overhanging 

 the path. I blew the reptile's head off with a shot 

 gun and down came the writhing body across the 

 path. It proved to be a fine specimen (about nine 

 feet in length) of the nakahungu, a dull greenish 

 serpent with an exceptionally large head, a species 

 which is usually found in rocky, hilly places and 

 feeds on small game, such as rabbits, birds, etc. 



