Snakes 225 



about here and there on the sand. I did not know 

 what to think of this dance executed, in my honour 

 perhaps, by a very large python. AVere these, per- 

 chance, the preliminaries of an attack ? So as to be 

 on the safe side, I decapitated it with a bullet in the 

 neck from the 303. Upon examination I recognised 

 that this reptile was a female, in the act of laying 

 in the sand a string of twenty-six eggs, joined by 

 a membrane, whence would have issued twenty- 

 six charming little pythons a short time afterwards. 

 This snake measured no less than 24 feet, and in the 

 middle was the thickness of the knee. 



I saw a python skin at Lake Nyassa which measured 

 not less than 30 feet, and, when the reptile was 

 killed, was found to contain a large kid half-way down 

 its stomach. Although inoffensive as far as the 

 bite is concerned, snakes of this size are not very 

 agreeable to meet with, for you never know whether 

 or not they are going to try to embrace you. 



There are about twenty other kinds of snakes, not 

 exceeding 2 yards in length, the bite of which is 

 more or less poisonous ; these are very common, 

 especially in the rainy season, when the water drives 

 them from their holes ; but in these countries, where 

 you are so accustomed to looking where you tread, 

 accidents are very rare. In fact, on the ground are 

 thorns which have fallen from trees, carnivorous ants, 

 different kinds of creeping brambles, a species of very 

 irritating nettle, and a thousand other very painful 

 things, so that everybody accustoms himself to 

 scrutinising the ground before setting foot down. 



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