200 BUSn WANDEEINGS. 



snake, and miglit have been the young. None of the 

 snakes here run to a very large size : — five feet will 

 perhaps be about the average length. The largest I 

 ever saw was a black-snake, killed by my mate in a thick 

 scrub on the beach, near Mordialloc, which we called the 

 two-mile scrub, certainly the worst place for snakes that 

 I knew. It was six feet five inches long, and very 

 thick. On showing it to a Black, he observed, " Ah ! 

 me know that fellow long time." I think both the 

 black and the carpet snake were equally common with 

 us. "\Ye general!}'" used to find the black snake more 

 among the timber and thick scrub than the other ; but 

 in the dry season we were sure to find both near water. 

 There is a strong scent peculiar to tlie Australian snake, 

 and I have often smelt one long before I saw it. 



The carpet-snake runs much about the same length as 

 the black-snake, but is rather thinner. I generally 

 found them in more open places ; and often on the plains 

 in dry weather, they would lie coiled up in a crab-hole, 

 or print of a bullock's hoof. The carpet-snake is of a- 

 brown colour, with a yellowish tinge and light belly, the 

 shades varying much, according to age and season. It 

 is a dangerous plan to let heaps of glass bottles accu- 

 mulate near a bush-tent, for they attract snakes much in 

 hot weather. 



The little whip-snake is the smallest of all, being 

 hardly thicker than one's finger, and rarely over a foot in 

 length. It rather resembles the blind-worm at home in 

 colour and appearance, but it is longer, and the tail 



