'ProceecLings. g8a 



" Snakes are amphibious. A diamond snake, pursued by one of my sons 

 took refuge in a shallow water-hole, and upon search being made in order to 

 despatch it the reptile was found coiled up in the gravel at the bottom.* 



" Some years ago I lost a shepherd from a bite in the wrist by a black 

 snake, which he was in the act of striking with a short stick. The man 

 walked to the edge of the bay, and washed the wound in salt water ; but no 

 attempt was made at excision, on account of the sinews and artery. The 

 man was bit about noon ; my son saw him about half-an-hour after, and thqive 

 being no medical man nearer than 20 miles he sucked the wound, remaining 

 with him till 8 o'clock in the evening, when he left under the impression 

 that the man would recover; but he died about 3 or 4 o'clock next morning, 

 apparently from general paralysis. 



" A few months ago my friend Dr. Story saw a snake in the garden of the 

 «' Grange" Estate, Great Swan Port, and looked about for a stick to kill it 

 with ; on returning he was surprised to find the reptile still in the same place, 

 and that it appeared to be somewhat torpid. The snake was readily dispatched, 

 when it became apparent that it had been killed in the act of swallowing 

 something which, on a closer inspection, proved to be another snake, about 

 four inches of the tail of which protruded from its javcs. 



" I visited the " Grange" on the following day, when Dr. Story showed me 

 the snake as he had killed it ; after which the half-swallowed snake was with- 

 drawn, — an operation requiring considerable force. We measured the snakes, 

 and found that one, which was of the red or diamond species, was about 31 in. 

 in length; while the other, which was a young black snake, measured 22 in. 

 only. The diamond snake was probably full-grown, being thick in. proportion 

 to its length ; the black snake was about half the bulk of the other. 



" As neither Dr. Story nor myself had before seen snakes in like circum- 

 stances, or heard of such having been observed by others, we supposed it to be 

 a discovery that snakes preyed on each other; and also that this might account 

 in some measure for their comparative fewness throughout the island. Of 

 the former supposition I was soon undeceived; for, meeting with Charles 

 Meredith, I related to liim what we had witnessed, when he told me that 

 lie had twice before heard of such occurrences, — one at a sheep station on the 

 IVlorumbidgee River, New South Wales; the other in the neighbourhood of 

 Port Sorell, where for some time he held the appointment of Assistant Police 

 Magistrate. 



" That snakes climb trees with ease is well ascertained, though it seems 

 almost incredible when the tree is upright and the bark smooth, as in the 

 white gum. One of my sons, some years ago, passing a tree of this descrip. 

 tion without a branch for twelve feet up, saw a black snake fall therefrom to 

 the ground; he killed it, and on cutting it open found in it several young 

 parrots. He then climbed the tree with some difficulty, and found among the 



* Mr. Milligan remarked that he had seen a large black snake in the Tamar river, 

 about 1 1 miles below Laiinceston, swimming directly across the wake of a vessel, and 

 where the water was of course brackish, if not quite salt. 



