Snakes. Delhi 289 



favourite retreat ; failing that, within the bed, in 

 the folds of a quilt, or down in the bottom of an 

 earthenware pot, a snug retreat may be found. Up 

 in the roof is another favourite place, the thatch 

 affording excellent cover. 



But the cobra is by no means aggressive, and when 

 he gets timely warning of the approach of man, he 

 will always endeavour to get out of his way ; it 

 is only when he is trampled upon inadvertently, or 

 otherwise irritated, that he attempts to use his fangs. 



And yet no snake is the cause of greater loss of 

 life than the cobra di cafello, or naga y as he is called. 

 Unluckily, the species is very common, and out of 

 all those snakes which, after inflicting a wound, 

 have been killed or otherwise identified, the proportion 

 of cobras is enormous. In Bengal alone, in one year, 

 the number of persons who died of snake-bite 

 amounted to 6,219. ^ n tne whole of India it is 

 estimated that more than twenty thousand deaths 

 occur annually from snake-bite, and it has been shown 

 that fully one-half may be attributed to the cobra. 



A cobra generally grows to a length of about 

 five feet, and with the exception of the markings 

 on the head, is of a uniform brown colour above, 

 and bluish white underneath ; sometimes he has a 

 pair of very conspicuous white, black-edged, spectacle- 

 like marks on the expansible portion of the neck 

 called the hood. When the cobra is irritated or 

 excited, it spreads its hood, raising the first third 

 of its body from the ground, gliding along with 



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