TEE KING-COBRA, OR HAMADRYAD. 417 



it proved to be a Hamadryad. We placed him alongside of the other. 

 Length — 8'-6" — Girth — 5^". It really required a stretch of imagination 

 to think that the larger snake meant to make a meal off the smaller one, 

 as we assumed must have been his intention. For what other purpose 

 could he have been carrying about a dead snake ? By the appearance 

 of the skin of the larger snake it was clear he had quite recently 

 sloughed, so we determined to take it, and .accordingly asked the 

 Burmans to skin it. Their faces dropped, and it was clear no one was 

 keen on doing it, so we enquired why, and were gravely told that the 

 risks attending the operation were very serious. Should the operator by 

 any chance get pricked by a bon®, it meant certain death, the bones 

 being extremely poisonous. We never heard this theory before, so 

 Mr. Todd-Naylor announced his intention of skinning the snake. The 

 thought of a Mingyi (Commissioner), exhibiting such reckless beha- 

 viour proved too much for them, as two Burmans stepped forward 

 prepared to accept the risk. We observed that the care exercised by the 

 operators was such as to render a prick from a bone highly improb- 

 able. Another Burman, judging by the manner in which he handled 

 the skin, must have thought ifc poisonous. As we were leavino- 

 the stream I observed the carcase of the snake on the bank, whicli 

 surprised me 5 so I asked if they were not going to bring it to camp 

 for dinner, which question appeared to somewhat astonish them. On my 

 remarking that Karens ate the flesh and pronounced it good, one man 

 ventured to say that " some people will eat anything. " This was really 

 funny coming from a Burman, many of whom do not hesitate to eat 

 adjutants, snakes, hawks, &c. Up to date I have not been fortunate 

 enough to kill a Hamadryad after a meal. 



Burmans and Karens recognize two varieties of this snake, viz.^ the 

 dusky without markings Gnan-bok ; and the belted-Gnan. The former 

 are reputed to be infinitely more fierce and aggressive than the latter. 

 I have only met with two specimens, and both of these, when carefully 

 inspected showed faint markings. The young are dark olive-brown 

 in colour, with well marked and rather bright yellow rings or chevron- 

 shaped marks. With regard to the size of these snakes, the longest I 

 have measured was in thehandsof a snake-charmer. We straightened 

 him out as well as we could, and he taped lo'-4". Had the snake been 

 dead, he would probably have measured another 4". I have records of 



two others 13'. I think, as a general rule, adults run anything between 

 3 



