HOW ONE WAS CAPTURED. 185 



in colouration only. The typical kind is black above with 

 irregular cross markings of brown. The abdomen is livid black, 

 witli sometimes a few of the shields white. The throat is banded 

 with one, two or more, white or yellowish bands across the neck 

 — lience the name Ringhals, which is a Dutch word meaning 

 Ring-neck.* A peculiarity of the Ringhals is that the abdomen 

 is very shiny, and the back dull, rough, and dingy. Another 

 variety is termed the Zvvart Ringhals, which means Black 

 Ringhals. The colouration is entirely black often without any 

 trace of the white collar or transverse brown bands on the back. 

 In some of the specimens a few odd shields on the abdomen are 

 blotched with white. This black variety attains a greater length 

 and thickness than the former. 



I kept a large specimen under careful observation, and 

 immediately it shed its old skin I removed it from its cage and 

 examined it in a strong light, and counted over half a dozen of 

 the wav}^ brown markings across its back. Within a week, 

 however, these faded from view. This goes to show the typical 

 Ringhals is the one with the wavy brown markings, and that the 

 black one is a modification or variet}^ having lost its brown 

 markings, due doubtless to climatic conditions. 



A third variety, which is common in the Transvaal, is uniform 

 brown above with several broad, more or less irregular, patches 

 of white on the throat. 



How ONE WAS Captured. 



Mr. Godlonton, at Fort Beaufort, Cape Colony, captured a 

 magnificent specimen of the Black Ringhals. It measured four 

 feet eleven inches. He came across it on liis farm. It lay 

 basking in the sun at the entrance to a hole, down wliich it glided 

 on observing him. He summoned assistance, and after tracing 

 the hole for over seven feet, he came across the snake about a 

 foot from the surface of the ground. He pinned it down with a 

 forked stick, and seizing it by the neck, between his finger and 

 thumb, thrust it into a biscuit tin and despatched it alive to me. 



It looked quite a giant in comparison with the other Ringhals 

 in the cage. For the first couple of weeks it fiercely resented the 

 visitors who peered at it through the plate glass of the cage. 

 From time to time it would send a shower of venom at them, 



* In sonic specimens this white throat band is absent. 



