210 ABUNDANCE OF GAME. Chap. X. 



foe lie lias neither seen nor beard ; for his reward the vigilant 

 little watcher has the pick of the parasites of his fat friend. 

 In other cases a chance of escape must be given even by the 

 animal itself to its prey ; as in the rattle-snake, which, when 

 excited to strike, cannot avoid using his rattle, any more than 

 the cat can resist curling its tail when excited in the chase of 

 a mouse, or the cobra can refrain from inflating the loose skin 

 of the neck and extending it laterally, before striking its 

 poison fangs into its victim. There were many snakes 

 in parts of this pass ; they basked in the warm sunshine, but 

 rustled off through the leaves as we approached. We ob- 

 served one morning a small one of a deadly poisonous species, 

 named Kakone, on a bush by the way-side, quietly resting 

 in a horizontal position, digesting a lizard for breakfast. 

 Though openly in view, its colours and curves so closely 

 resembled a small branch that some failed to see it, even 

 after being asked if they perceived anything on the bush. 

 Here also one of our number had a glance at another species, 

 rarely seen, and whose swift lightning-like motion has given 

 rise to the native proverb, that when a man sees this snake 

 he will forthwith become a rich man. 



We slept near the ruined village of the murdered chief, 

 Mpangwe, a lovely spot, with the Zambesi in front, and exten- 

 sive gardens behind, backed by a semicircle of hills, receding up 

 to lofty mountains. Our path kept these mountains on our 

 right, and crossed several streamlets, which seemed to be 

 perennial, and among others the Selole, which apparently 

 flows past the prominent peak Chiarapela. These rivulets 

 have often human dwellings on their banks; but the land 

 can scarcely be said to be occupied. The number of all 

 sorts of game increases wonderfully every day. As a speci- 

 men of what may be met with where there are no human 



