

SNAKES 161 



and white neck and body, and red legs. I crawled a 

 long distance in the grass, on my hands and knees, 

 and then lay down and waited two or three hours, 

 hoping he would come my way and give me a shot ; 

 but he did not, and so finally I had to give him 

 up. I saw several after this, but did not get a 

 specimen, and regret very much that I have not 

 a skin of this fine bird in my collection. I consider 

 the jabiru as shy a bird as I have ever seen ; for 

 I have spent many hours, if not days, trying in vain to 

 get a shot. 



Snakes were rather numerous at Townsville, and I 

 often saw them hanging on bushes and the branches of 

 trees. One day, while walking in the thick scrub, 

 searching for land-snails, I came across a very large 

 light-brown snake {Morelia variegata, a species of 

 python) coiled upon the ground. He was by far the 

 finest specimen I had ever seen at large, and was, 

 probably, ten or twelve feet long, and as thick as a 

 man's leg at the knee. He looked savage enough to 

 devour me, and at the first sight I felt half inclined to 

 run away. A great naturalist has said that we get our 

 intense dislike of snakes from our great-great-grand- 

 fathers, the apes, who bear them a cordial hatred. 

 I have so accustomed myself to the various animals 

 I have seen, that I have little if any fear of them ; so 

 that when hunting specimens, I often catch snakes with 

 my hands ; but notwithstanding this, on coming upon 



