MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 308 
his arm, without shifting his seat, he was horrified—and no wonder—to see a 
large cobra on the same steps just behind him, with hood expanded and 
ready to strike again. 
Sidling off on to the ground, he shouted to his convicts, who with others 
ran up and pursued the snake, which now ascended the steps into the garden 
and took refuge behind some flower pots in Mr. McGill’s compound. 
Calming down from his fright, Husain Bux was for leaving it alone, saying 
that as Allah had spared him, so he would spare the snake, and no doubt, 
though a Musalman, he had something of the Hindu superstitious belief 
in the divinity of the cobra, and thought that such a peculiar visitation from 
the God would bring him luck. So, too, thought many natives, and when 
T talked over the occurrence afterwards with an old jail warder, he shook 
his head ominously and said, “ He ought not to have killed that snake.’ 
However, killed the cobra was, and the men took it to Dr. G. Sinclair, who 
found it to measure 4 ft.7in. ‘The snake, I fancy, must have been coming 
down from the garden above, when it saw the sepoy sitting on the steps, and 
that it should not have retreated or passed behind him, as there was plenty 
of room for it to do unnoticed, is curious, and such an instance of a cobra, 
when unalarmed, going out of its way to attack a man is perhaps worthy of 
record. 
S. M. FRASER, I. C. §. 
KOLHAPORE. 
No. VL—NOTES ON INDIAN DOGS. 
In No. 4, Vol. VII, Mr, Sinclair discourses pleasantly on various ‘‘ pies” and 
traces them up to the frontier. It may be interesting to supply a few notes 
of other “ pies” met with in my wanderings. 
In the villages lying at the foot of the Nari and Bolan Passes the dogs are 
decidedly bigger and more ferocious than the usual ‘‘ pie,” but it is not till the 
passes are entered that the “ Afghan mastiff,” so called, is met with. It need 
hardly be said that the dog is not a mastiff, and really only resembles one 
approximately in size and slightly in colour, Head, general build, coat are all 
different. This is only an instance of “‘ heimweh ” which leads us to bestow 
old familiar names on whatever reminds us of our Western home, This 
“ Afghan mastiff ” stands as high asa large greyhound and is built generally 
like the ordinary “ pie,” except that he is much heavier and more massive in 
every measurement and does not possess a wasp waist. His main peculiarity is 
his ruff, or “mane” as it is generally called. This ruff consists of deep thick 
soft fur, nearly three inches long, and covers and protects the neck, chest, and 
shoulders, The colour varies very little, being generally rufous. Like the wasp 
and red ant, he is invariably in a bad temper, and it is advisable to have some 
lethal weapon with one, as a threatening gesture is at once resented by action, 
which is apt to result in discomfiture, My first introduction to this dog was 
