SERPENTS 



was best to be done. Night coming on, search was 

 out of the question, so I closed the building with the 

 intention of searching for the brute in the morning. In 

 the meantime I told the watchman to keep a good look- 



^fe. 



THE "WiTCHMAN. 



out all night in case it should have escaped out of the 

 house into the Gardens, but, at the same time, I cautioned 

 him as regards keeping the affair a secret. Some time 

 afterwards I met him with his legs bound up in hay-bands 

 {see Sketch). 



At daylight I called my eldest son, Edward, to bring 

 his collecting gun and prepare to kill the cobra, if possible. 

 We all (my son, the keepers and I) entered the reptile- 

 house and closed the doors and windows, because we 



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