POISONOUS ANIMALS 211 



group of spectators who had been watching the 

 proceedings ... no further thought was given to 

 the principal incident of the day, nor did the cobra's 

 victim appear any the worse for his injury. . . . 

 There can be no doubt that the man was bitten by 

 the cobra, that both he and his friends were consider- 

 ably perturbed in consequence, that he cured him- 

 self in the manner described, and that no orthodox 

 method of treatment was resorted to ; not even a 

 ligature of any kind was applied.' 



An even more dangerous snake than the foregoing 

 is the hamadryad or giant cobra of India, which, 

 when fully grown, attains to a length of fifteen 

 feet as against the six feet of the cobra de capello, 

 and has the reputation of being of a very savage 

 disposition and not hesitating to attack man, even 

 without receiving provocation. Happily, however, 

 the reptile is not very plentiful in its haunts. 



Another venomous Indian snake, known as the 

 banded-krait, or by the natives a sankni (meaning 

 the wearer of bracelets), is remarkable for its pecu- 

 liar colouring, the creature being decorated with 

 alternate lemon-yellow and black bands. It attains 

 to a length of about five or six feet, is of a somewhat 

 slender build, and, like the giant cobra, feeds entirely 

 upon other snakes. The reptile is stated to be of 

 such a sluggish disposition that even if trodden 

 upon it usually crawls away rather than show resent- 

 ment for such treatment. Unfortunately, however, 

 it has the habit of taking up its abode within human 

 habitations, and has even been discovered coiled up 

 under the pillow of a lady, in which situation it 



