196 BRITISH SERPENTS. 
of the valley one must go through it: on right and 
left the mountains shut the traveller in. Both hills 
are well wooded—with this difference, that while Gar- 
way Hill is only covered with fern and bracken on its 
upper third, the Graig is wooded thickly to its summit, 
and has a margin of cleared land at the river-side. It 
is necessary to note these features in order to under- 
stand how the fauna of this or any similar locality is 
affected by natural boundaries. 
Ophidia found. —It so happened that it was 
winter when these observations commenced, so the 
reptiles were hibernating ; and one could only proceed 
by making inquiries. This was done, making use of 
the class of people of most service for such a purpose 
—viz., gamekeepers, woodmen, farmers, and others 
whose occupations take them to the more secluded 
parts of the locality to be investigated. Their replies 
to my questions were carefully noted, and these replies 
showed a singular uniformity which very much struck 
me. I invariably got the answer, “There’s no snakes 
here, only adders,” or occasionally the reptiles were 
termed “vipers.” On further inquiry as to the usual 
size of the serpents these men were familiar with, a 
similar uniformity was observable in the estimates 
they gave of size. All agreed in putting the ordinary 
length of the only snake which they knew of at about 
“2 feet or a bit over.” Experience teaches that snake 
measurements which are only estimated are not always 
to be relied upon, and so it seemed that very probably 
