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THE NDHLONDHLO. 



By Charles M. D. Stewart. 



Of late years zoology has been enriched by the discovery of 

 many new species. Here, on the contrary, I aim at placing on 

 record evidence tending to establish the fact of the partial or 

 complete extinction of a reptile during recent years. 



The Ndhlondhlo was a serpent well known to all the Kafirs 

 of Natal and Zululand as exceeding all other venomous snakes in 

 size, deadliness, ferocity, and swiftness of attack, and Ndhlon- 

 dhlo was one of the titles of honour applied to the Zulu monarch. 

 It was reputed to have upon its head a crest resembling a feather, 

 and to whistle shrilly when excited. I hesitate to relate all I 

 have heard concerning it, lest I should lay myself open to the 

 charge of romancing. 



Even in the seventies it was so rare that some Europeans 

 thought it to be only a very old Black Mamba, but whenever I 

 suggested this explanation to Kafirs they emphatically repudiated 

 it, and maintained that it was a distinct species. 



Colenso's Zulu-English dictionary says that the Ndhlondhlo 

 is "crested — poisonous — the king of snakes — applied as a word 

 of honour to a chief, and also, by way of reproach, to a woman 

 of violent temper." 



Becently, to my surprise, I learnt that it was unknown to 

 science. Being rare, and possibly extinct, I have small hope of 

 establishing the fact of its existence in the past except by 

 circumstantial evidence. Although the evidence of natives upon 

 points of natural history is often reliable enough when no super- 

 stition intervenes to vitiate it, the prejudice against it so discounts 

 its value that I am compelled to rely on the scant testimony 

 obtainable from Europeans. 



I make my appeal, not to those who are scientists only and 

 nothing more, but to those who, while interested in natural 

 history, also possess the judicial faculty of appraising the value 



