210 THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



herbage being very long and luxurious, when suddenly I felt a 

 great commotion in my left trouser leg, and knew at once that a 

 snake was there. Another snake at the same time darted away 

 from my feet. 



" The one in my trousers went up as far as the pocket, and 

 then turned downwards. I could see by the shape it gave my 

 trousers, and feel by its strength, that it was no small one. 



" I kept perfectly still, and called to a native who was a safe 

 distance away to come and catch hold of the snake's tail and jerk 

 it out. But he would not come. The snake then poked its 

 green snout and shining eyes out below my trousers. On looking 

 at it I discovered that I was treading on it about a foot from the 

 end of its tail. 



" I gently raised my foot, and the reptile immediately glided 

 away, and so quickly that I could not get a shot, although my 

 gun was at the ' ready.' 



" We afterwards found and shot one of the two snakes, a 

 greyish-green Mamba, about five and a half feet long, but 

 whether it was the one who had ' worn the maister's breeks,' I 

 cannot say." 



The following appeared in the Eastern Province Herald, 

 June 27th, 1911 : — 



Young Surveyor's Sad Death. 



"The many friends of Mr. Claud ('Punch') Moller, who so 

 ably played full back for the Gardens Rugby Football Club, 

 Capetown, were grieved to hear of his death from the bite of a 

 Mamba. The sad event occurred some sixty miles from Malapyre, 

 Bediuanaland, and details of the occurrence have just come 

 to hand. 



" Mr. Moller left Capetown for Rhodesia some two months back, 

 on a surveying trip, as assistant to Mr. Hector M. Shaw, Govern- 

 ment Land Surveyor. On Sunday, the nth inst., he and Mr. 

 Shaw were sitting at a camp table alongside of the wagon, writing 

 letters. Young Moller had just finished a letter to his mother 

 when he heard a shot fired close to the camp. Knowing that the 

 natives were in search of another buck, the skin of which would 

 complete the required number to make a kaross which he wanted, 

 Mr. Moller folded the letter with the remark to Mr. Shaw : 



