172 SUNSHINE AND SPORT IN 



derided as the victim of Scotch whisky, even 

 though at Useppa that cost the modest sum of 

 eight shiUings-and-fourpence the bottle. Down, 

 then, came the butterfly-net over the wicked little 

 head ; after which I broke off a couple of feet of 

 the wooden handle and with it beat the head even 

 flatter than it was by nature. That accomplished, 

 we both felt that we had walked far enough in the 

 scrub and that the security of the verandah would 

 be preferable. Such evidence as we carried con- 

 futed even the most sceptical ; but the most striking 

 testimony to the interest aroused by our adventure 

 came from the humbler residents on the island, 

 many of whom, both white and coloured, stood in 

 the doors of their cabins and rubbed their eyes as 

 if there were " visions about," uttering exclamations 

 that clearly expressed the deepest astonishment. 

 One lady of the locality informed me that her 

 piccaninnies were in the habit of playing barefoot 

 close to the spot where we found our rattlesnake. 

 Next day took me past her hovel again. Does 

 anyone imagine that, in view of this revelation of 

 danger, the piccaninnies were now shod ? Not in 

 the least, but played as merrily and as unprotected 

 as ever. 



The truth is that the snakes take good care that 

 their presence shall not obtrude. Was it not the 

 same with the alligators that we hunted in vain on 

 La Costa ? That reptile is, in books, one of the 

 fiercest enemies of mankind, lying in ambush for 

 him at river crossings with a fiendish concentration 

 of purpose hardly justified even by the pangs of 

 hunger. Yet for hours we sought this aggressive 

 saurian, knocked at his front door, undermined the 



