52 MAY 



appear round the corner, it raised its head, 

 extended its hood, and hissed at him ; then turned 

 up the ivy-covered wall and disappeared over the top 

 in a second. Only a few minutes had elapsed since 

 I had stood there, and that must have been the 

 cobra rustling in the branches of the palms, lying 

 in wait for one of those little ducks. Suppose I 

 had stretched out my hand and got bitten ! as I 

 most assuredly would have been; it was a very 

 narrow escape, and only averted by the small 

 accident of having to hold an umbrella in one hand, 

 and a gown in the other. The dogs went with me 

 as I returned to the spot, and then to see their 

 excitement ! They had found its trail, and this 

 way and that way, with their noses close to the 

 ground, they scented just in the place the man had 

 pointed out. It is always distinctly evident when 

 they are scenting a snake, by the sinuous curves in 

 which they run; and a peculiar bark announces 

 when they have found one. Nous does not always 

 bark when he sees a cobra. I have been present 

 twice when he has caught one. Each time his 

 attention was attracted by the other dogs barking 

 round a small tussock of grass, through which I 



