PYTHON NATALENSIS. 



stripe, and a large similar-coloured blotch, the first commencing at the 

 nostril, and ending above the angle of the mouth ; the latter situated imme- 

 diately below the eye. The lower parts of the sides are also marked with 

 irregular olive-brown spots. Lips yellowish white ; eyes dark brownish red ; 

 spurs near amis, livid white. The olive-brown and yellowish-brown mark- 

 ings are, when imbedded in each other, generally surrounded by a margin of a 

 different tint to the general colour of the spots ; where they are olive-brown, 

 the edging is generally darker; and when yellowish-brown, generally lighter. 

 The whole surface of the snake has a strong metallic gloss in certain lights. 



Form, &c. Body fusiform. Head depressed, and scarcely distinct from the 

 neck ; much broader behind, than before the eyes ; gape large ; two labial 

 plates of the upper jaw on each side of nasal plate emarginated anteriorly, so 

 that tbe lip in front appears perforated by four irregular holes ; pupils cir- 

 cular ; teeth long, pointed, slightly curved, and gently reclined ; the anterior- 

 most ones of each row longest; intermaxillary ones short, slender, and 

 pointed ; anal spurs about two lines in length, slightly curved, and pointed. 

 The muzzle superiorly, the lips, the belly, and the under surface of the tail 

 are covered with large plates ; the other parts of head and body with scales. 

 On the top of the head they vary in size, several of them immediately over, as 

 well as before and behind the eyes, being much larger than the others around 

 them : on the body they are small, ovate, and slightly imbricate, those 

 of the three lowermost rows, on each side of abdominal plates, very large. 

 Abdominal plates narrow transversely, their breadth little exceeding the 

 scales immediately on each side of them ; their form, however, is different — 

 the plates posteriorly are square, the scales semicircular. The subcaudal scales 

 are in two rows, and larger than those with which the sides of the tail are co- 

 vered ; shape the same. Abdominal plates 269 ; subcaudal scales 77. Length 

 of body and head 10 feet 1 1 inches ; of tail 16 inches. The large plates, men- 

 tioned as covering the muzzle superiorly are seven in number ; a triangular 

 one immediately behind nasal plate, the apex of which, posteriorly, is re- 

 ceived between the two plates next in succession, and which are also some- 

 what three-sided, their base in contact with the middle pair, the shapes of 

 which are quadrangular ; the last pair semicircular behind, and terminate ; 

 about a quarter of an inch in front of a line drawn so as to connect the eyes. 



This snake, or at least one resembling it in size, was formerly an inhabitant of the districts 

 now within the Cape Colony, and the traditions of the older Hottentots abound with instances 

 of its miraculous powers. At present it is not to be found within hundreds of miles of the 

 boundaries of the Colony, and few specimens have been obtained nearer than Port Natal. It 

 occasionally attains a very large size, and, according to the natives, individuals have been seen 



