314 SNAKES. 



HydrophiidcB ( Water-8nahes) 

 Platurus fasciatus ^ 



One of tlic commonest o£ snakes tlirou2;hout tliese islands is 

 Enygriis carinatus, a harmless species of tlic Boa family. It often 

 possesses considerable bulk in proportion to its length. One 

 sjDecimen which I obtained in Treasury Island measured oh feet in 

 length and C inches in girth. I handled a good many living snakes 

 whilst in these islands, since the natives used to bring them in 

 numbers to me both on board and on shore. The statements of the 

 natives and of the white men resident in this region and the 

 general appearance of the snakes had led me to believe that there 

 were no poisonous species in the group. I was therefore somewhat 

 surprised when, on my arrival in England, I learned from Dr. 

 Gilnther that I had found a new species as poisonous as the. Cobra. 

 On being sliown the specimen by Mr Boulenger, I at once re- 

 cosfnised an old friend which had been brought on board in a 

 bamboo by the natives at Faro Island and had got loose on the deck. 

 Whilst the men standing round were preparing to kill it with more 

 regard for their own safety than for my feelings, I caught it quickly 

 around the neck and held it under water until it was dead. The 

 natives certainly were not aware of its venomous character, nor was 

 Mr. Isabell, who was my right-hand man in these matters, and used to 

 manage the ticklish progress of removing the snakes from their 

 bamboo-tubes in a manner only suitable in the case of harmless 

 species. I only obtained one specimen of this snake, which was 

 about 21 feet in length. It is named Hoplocepltalus par and belongs 

 to the ElapidcB, a family of poisonous colubrine snakes which possess 

 the physiognomy of the harmless snakes of the same sub-order, and 

 include the Indian and African Cobras with other well known 

 venomous species. In the footnote I have quoted Mr. Bonlenger's 

 description of its general appearance for the information of those 

 who visit the group. ^ 



1 1 was indebted to Lieutenant Symonds of H. M.S. " Diamond " for tliis snalio, 

 2 The upper surface of the head is uniform b ackisli brown. The body is cro.sscd above by 

 broad red-brown bands separated by narrow white interspaces. The lower surface of the 

 head and body are vmiform white, except on the posterior extremity of the boily where the 

 red and black extend as lines along tlie sutures of the ventral shields. On the tail the red 

 forms complete rings. Nearly every one of the dorsa' scales have a b'ackish brown border. 

 Tiie head is depressed, moderately large, and slightly widened posteriorly. The eye has a 

 vertical pupil. 



