GO MB. W. TIIEOEALP, JUN., ON TUE 



Suborder II. Serpentes colubriui A'eneuati. 

 Pamily ELAPIDJi:. 



Hamadeyas, Cantor. 



H. ELAPS, Schl. 



a. Adult female. Body .... 121-00 



Tail .... 2600=14700. 



Colour olive-brown, witb paler cross bands deeply edged -nith 

 black. Beneath white, mottled Avitb black about the tail. Tliroat 

 yellow. Caudal scuta nine ; scutella eighty-three. 



h. Young female. Body and tail .... 78 inches. 



Colour uniform brown, passing into bhackish on tlie liinder 

 part of tlie trunk and tail, with about forty pale bullish bands, 

 black-edged, and conspicuous on the tail, fainter on the body, and 

 obsolete on the neck. Belly clouded with slaty. No yellow ou 

 throat. This snake, the " Gndn-loh " of the Birmese, is not rare 

 in Birma, and is very justly dreaded by the natives, who look on it 

 as very ii-ascible and always ready to attack, whicli I believe to bo 

 a mistake, or only true at certain seasons — though a " Gndn " Avill 

 not shun a man, as most other snakes will ; and I have often 

 watched them in bamboo clumps, witliout their exhibiting either 

 fear or anger. 



I was once descending the Tenasserim river in company with 

 Professor Oldham, and saw one of these snakes on the bank. 

 Thinking it was a Ptyas,I hastily sprang ashore and caught it by 

 the tail as it was disappearing into the brushwood. My boatman, 

 however, quickly handed me up a " Dab," and with two bloAVs I 

 severed my dangerous prize in half That I was not bitten I 

 attribute to the gentle manner in which I held the snake without 

 pinching it ; but the risk was great and such as it is better to avoid, 

 as the animal measured twelve feet, and its bite would have been 

 fatal in a few minutes. The excitement, however, generally gets 

 the better of one's prudence when a fine specimen is to be secvired, 

 as the following instance will show. I was one evening attracted 

 by a noise of men and dogs near my tent, and found a largo crowd 

 round a bush, in which some creature was at bay. On coming up 

 I found it was a magnificent "Gnan" twelve feet long, which 

 was making furious charges at the dogs, but was protected by the 



