THE ZooLocist—Marcu, 1875. 4355 
escape the imamba if riding on an open country; certainly its 
movements are wonderfully rapid. One day Mr. D. Woodward on 
going quickly down a hill, suddenly stopped on hearing a loud 
hiss proceeding from a bush to his right, when he saw a full-grown 
imamba dart out from the bush in front of him; fortunately it 
missed its object, and so great was the impetus of its movements that 
it could not draw up again until it had gone nearly across a five- 
acre field. On ascending a hill on the other side of the valley he 
nearly trod upon another imamba, probably its mate, gliding across 
the path. Another day, on dining at a friend’s house, we saw one 
of these great reptiles pass by the dining-room window and enter 
the open window of the bed-room adjoining: on going into the 
‘room we found the snake quietly coiled up under the dressing- 
table. With some difficulty we despatched it with knives used for 
clearing bush, although it made several vigorous efforts to strike at 
us with its fangs. It measured eleven feet in length. 
Mr. B., the clergyman of the district, describes a fight he had 
with an imamba in his house: he says that on going into one of 
his rooms, which was nearly filled with a long table, he was 
horrified to discover a large black reptile occupying one of the 
comers. This being a highly dangerous visitor, owing to there 
being children in the house, he immediately took steps to destroy 
it. The weapon that came readiest to hand happened to be the 
handle of an old broom. Thus armed he commenced the assault: 
at first the table seemed to suffer most, the reptile dodging every 
blow aimed at it by the reverend gentlemen by sheltering its head 
under the table. At last a lucky blow broke its spine, when of 
course it was easily disposed of. 
Lately when we were riding by a short path to the neighbouring 
village of Umsginto), an imamba got up in a narrow part of the 
road and refused to let us pass, displaying its forked tongue and 
hissing loudly whenever the horse attempted to do so. After a 
few moments, during which we had an excellent opportunity of 
admiring the beauty of its colour as exhibited in the sunshine, 
it moved majestically into the adjacent thicket. 
The natives have no antidote for the bite of the imamba, and if 
any one among them has the misfortune to get bitten, he is im- 
mediately given up for lost, without any attempt being made to 
recover him. “Hau de luce,” or spirits of ammonia, seems to be 
an effectual remedy if administered in time. In most instances 
