ITINERARY. xllll 



to give opportunities for deposition and development. Rattlesnakes 

 and labari'ias are to be found in the savannahs and copies, but we saw 

 only the latter, and a large one, of about fi\e feet in length, was killed 

 near by at one of our camping-places on the return on the first journey. 

 It WHS found while cleai-ing away some loose brushwood and debris not 

 far from the river-side, and was shot and damaged Ijeyond chance of 

 preservation as it was escaping to the shelter of some rocks close at 

 hand. It had been badly tui-ned about and irritated by the di-agging 

 away of the driftwood, under which it had been concealed. The species 

 appeared to be difierent from the common form {Lachesis atrox), for the 

 jaw stripe was indistinct, and the markings on the side much more 

 distinct than on the back ; while the underside of the tail was reddish- 

 yellow. A common species of Leptodira, a harmless snake with 

 markedly triangular head and constricted neck, and body-markings 

 somewhat like tliose of the labarria, for which it is mostly mistaken by 

 those who know little about snakes, is frequently met with in the 

 thatch of the low houses and old sheds. No doubt it is responsible, 

 Avith other such forms, for many of bhe common tales of recovei-y from 

 so-called labai'ria l^ites after the use of a lai'ge variety of useless 

 i-emedies. 



Down in one of the valleys on the fltit, we had seen a large group of 

 what in the distance looked like small houses close together, but which 

 in reality were the mounds of the Termites. Some must have been 

 more that ten feet in height, and many had an edging like the eaves of 

 a house. They were intensely hard, and attempts for a short time to 

 dig in to the galleries were quite futile. We had neither pick nor 

 crowbar, but we tried, with cutlass and axe, to make a hole at the base 

 deep enough for a dynamite cartridge ; but it was hopeless with these 

 unsuitable instruments, and the explosion merely blew off a small patch 

 of the outside. It would have been interesting to ascertain the species, 

 and to see the nature and plan of the galleries, hs well as the method 

 by which the smaller nests are built up into the larger, for they seemed 

 to be just as securely roofed over. None of them had been torn open 

 by any ant-bear, for which we were sorr}' ; and we liad to leave them 

 with our curiosit}' unsatisfied. 



Other insects and ai'achnids were common enough in many places, 

 and interesting collections could be made of all the orders, if camps 

 of at least a few days' duration were established to deal with the 

 miscellaneous material in the various localities. On long journeys it 

 is a hopeless problem, for not only does one get quickly left, bt-hind in 

 attempted excursions from the trail, l)ut when one reaches the site for 

 the camp, at the end of a long day's tramp from early morning, weary 

 and probal^ly foot-sore from a very rough track, there are always so 

 many little things to be seen to, for one's own personal welfare and 

 that of the men also — such as the arrangements of the camp, the 

 commissariat, the load.s, ailments and accidents in general, writing up 

 of dairy and notes, sanitary requirements, etc. — that but little, if any, 

 time is left before night for any satisfactory attenti(m to tlie pre- 

 servation of miscellaneous material ; and after the evening meal, apart 

 from the matter of light, it is mostly a question of "early to haiinnock, 

 early to rise," the start next morning, after a very early tea, being 



