96 SERPENTS. Chap. VII. 



cocks, about two feet high, and rather more in breadth, are 

 made by one variety of these little creatures. This is done 

 for obvious reasons in regions which are annually covered 

 with snow, but it is difficult to divine the purpose of the 

 haymaking in the climate of Africa.* 



Wherever mice abound, serpents may be expected, for the 

 one preys on the other. A cat, by clearing oif the food which 

 attracts these reptiles, is a good preventive against their 

 entrance into a house. Occasionally, however, they find their 

 way in. At Mabotsa one morning a man came to me early, 

 and going to the door in the dark I set my foot on a serpent. 

 The moment I felt the cold scaly skin twine round my leg I 

 jumped up higher than I ever did before, or hope to do again. 

 The reptile was shaken oft' by my leap. Several varieties, 

 when alarmed, emit a peculiar odour, which betrays their 

 presence in a house. In the country these reptiles inspire 

 none of that loathing which we experience when sitting reading 

 about them in England. Even the most venomous sorts bite 

 only when put in bodily fear, or when trodden upon, or when 

 the sexes come together. I once found a coil of their skins, 

 denoting that a number of them had twisted together in the 

 manner described by the Druids of old. 



Some of the serpents are particularly venomous. One species 

 'picakholu) which we killed at Kolobeng continued to distil 

 3lear poison from the fangs for hours after its head was cut 

 off. So copious is the supply that, when a number of dogs 

 attack it, the first bitten dies almost instantaneously, the 

 second in about five minutes, the third in an hour or so, while 

 the fourth may live several hours. This reptile commits great 

 havoc in a cattle-pen. Our specimen was of a dark brown, 

 nearly black colour, and eight feet three inches long. It is 

 probably the same kind as that which passes by the name of 

 the "spitting serpent," and which is believed to be able to 

 eject its poison into the eyes when the wind favours its forcible 

 expiration. We have the puif-adder in Africa, various vipers 

 and cobras (Naia haje, Smith) of several colours. When an- 

 noyed they raise their heads about a foot from the ground, 



* Eiiryotis unlsulcatus (F. Cuvier), Mus pumelio (Spar.), and Mas lehocla 

 Smith j, all possess this habit in a gruater or less degree. The first of these maj 

 be seen running from danger with its young hanging to the after-part of its body. 



