THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



A District Native Commissioner's Evidence. 



John L. Knight, Esq., District Native Commissioner, District 

 No. I, Natal, writes me the following interesting and seemingly 

 convincing letter : " The individual habits and characteristics 

 of the Black and Green varieties of Mambas are so distinct, 

 numerous, and marked, as to leave no manner of doubt in my 

 mind whether the Green Mamba ever changes and becomes a Black 

 Mamba. The Green Mamba spends the most of its life in the 

 boughs of trees, and I cannot call to mind ever having seen one 

 on the ground, until killed. On the other hand, I have never 

 seen a Black Mamba in a tree. 



" I have probably killed, or seen killed, as many of each 

 variety as any person in South Africa, having lived in ' Mamba 

 country ' practically all my life. I have killed, or seen killed, 

 Black Mambas measuring about eighteen inches in length up to 

 fully twelve feet, and the only difference in colour is that the full- 

 grown creature is slightly deeper black. 



" On the other hand, I have had the same experiences with 

 Green Mambas, the latter, however, never reaching so great a 

 length as the Black— say not more than eight feet to nine feet. 

 In this case also the only difference in the colour being that the 

 larger ones are a slightly deeper green than the young ones. 



" When both black and green have recently sloughed, their 

 colour is brighter, and approximates nearer to the young of each 

 variety. I have seen and had many cases of Mamba bite by 

 both varieties come under my notice — the bitten consisting for 

 the most part of natives, with a few Europeans, and also animals, 

 such as horses and cattle. When the bite has been by the Black 

 Mamba the result is almost invariably fatal. When by the Green 

 Mamba, it is seldom, if ever, fatal. There is a somewhat mythical 

 snake in Natal and Zululand, known to the natives as Indhlonhlo, 

 said to have a feather in its head. Europeans believe this to be 

 only a very old Black Mamba, whose head has become tinted 

 with a grayish powdery pigment, which, at a distance gives the 

 optical delusion of a feather." 



A Durban lady, whose father was an enthusiastic amateur 

 naturalist, and whose special hobby was the collection of specimens 

 of snakes preserved in spirit, and who naturally was well acquainted 



