4 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jtjlt 8, 1893. 



for one who was not fishing but just going somewhere. 

 It put us in the notion of going back to the river. What 

 was the use of putting in our good elegant time looking 

 for lost lakes when we could be ca,tohing fish? What had 

 we come for anj^way? We had blisters and sunburn and 

 perpetually hungry stomachs. What we were pining for 

 was fish. We had had enough to give a fishy flavor to the 

 skillet and that was about all. 



Mr. M. and Kansas said they had seen a fine spring 

 about where the deer came out on the river bank and 

 gazed at them. That was another inducement, for the 

 lake water was not good to drink. 



RlCHAUD GrEAR HOfiBS. 

 [TO BE CONCLUDED NEXT WEEK.] 



SPITTING SNAKES.-II. 



Naja hmmachates of South Africa has so strongly es- 

 tablished a reputa,tion, not only of "spitting" venom, but 

 of spitting it into the eye, that it is commonly spoken of 

 as "the spitting snake." This is the sjjooh, or spoof 

 scMang of the Dutch colonists, but I am not sure of this 

 adjective spuih or spooTc, as each person whom I asked 

 spelt it difl:erently. I can only say that it implies the act 

 of spitting, of which no more need be said than that it is 

 the ejection of venom by the forward dash of the ser- 

 pent's head in the act of striking. These Najas are not 

 very long snakes: and, hke the rest of the Mcqndce,, are 

 slender. Those I have seen rarely exceed 5ft. They are 

 generally black, or with white spots or marks about them. 

 They also expand the neck, cobra-fashion, though in a 

 less degree. The.ir peculiar characteristics bring them 

 into prominence, rendering them a very frequent, if un- 

 welcome, topic; from the diversity of opinion regarding 

 their manner of biting, the potency of their venom, and 

 their breach of good manners. I aUude, of course, to 

 competent authorities and not to popular prejudice. 



My paper of May 26 in Fobest and Stream last year 

 contained an account of a ringhals (this is its popular 

 vernacular name) "spitting" into the eye of Dr. Great- 

 head, of Grrahamstown, Cape Colony. Eequesting the 

 opinion of Mr. Trimen, of Cape Town, on this subject, he 

 writes: "The case of Dr. Greathead is a strong one. 

 That snake is much given to this disagreeable habit, and 

 I have on several occasions seen it eject with great force 

 a good deal of saliva when excited, but I have never seen 

 any one hit in the eye. I am not clear whether the 

 actual venom from the gland of the fang "is ejected." 

 Eoland Trimen, F.R.S.F.Z.S., etc., speaks with the cir- 

 cumspection of a scientific man. He does not say "spit," 

 nor does he say that pure venom is ejected. IMi-. Trimen 

 is an accomplished naturalist, the author of a splendid 

 work on "The South African Butterflies," and as Curator 

 of the South African Museum at Cape Town he has an 

 extensive experience of the native" fauna. 



The ringhals has a small head and short fangs, and I 

 also should doubt w^hether its glands could contain so 

 much venom as the large quantity of saliva seen to fly 

 from its mouth; but any saliva from the mouth of a snake 

 would cause j)ain to so sensitive a part as the eye. The 

 Dr. Schonland also mentioned in my former paper has 

 kept these snakes for the purj)0se of studying them, and 

 he afiirms that he has never known anything to be killed 

 by one, and thinks that either they fail to strike or that 

 the venom is feeble. One of his ringhals caught a toad 

 by one leg and in due time swallowed it. After several 

 hours Dr. Schonland saw that the toad was still moving 

 about inside the snake, proving at least that the venom 

 had little effect on the cold-blooded amphibian. 



All the authorities agree that this Nafa is an aggressive 

 and extremely vigilant, active serpent, evincing great 

 ferocity, and when disturbed rearing up with expanded 

 neck prepared to stand on the defensive, or open-mouthed 

 to attack, its venom (or saliva) flowing and often ejected. 

 This is Dr. Andrea Smith's character of it, and confirmed 

 by all more recent experience. The natives dread it more 

 than any other snake, more even than the puff-adder. 

 So much for a vicious and defiant attitude, which would 

 seem to stand it in place of deadly power, since one has 

 not heard of any further harm that it did, excepting the 

 ready spouting of its venom. A gentleman whose life 

 on a farm afforded him ample opportunities for observing 

 juakes, told me that on one occasion, while riding, he 

 vllsturbed a ringhals which immediately reared itself up 

 for attack, pursuing his horse and keeping up with it, 

 striking at its hind legs, and sometimes in its f ury striking 

 the ground between the legs, and this for a long distance. 

 The horse was not hurt, perhajjs was not even conscious 

 of the blow, which while trotting quickly could not have 

 been very severe. My informant, an intelligent and ob- 

 serving man, doubted if the ringhals ever does bite, but 

 as to the "spitting" he had no doubt whatever. 



I have yet one more authority to quote, though the 

 primary point of the subject — namely, does a snake 

 actually and intentionally spout venom into the eye of a 

 foe — -must still be left as an unsolved question. Colonel 

 Bowker, a well-known naturalist of Durban, in Natal, 

 writes me: "I think there is but little doubt, if any, that 

 the spitting snakes aim at the eye, so all who are ac- 

 quainted with them say. Last week my nearest neighbor 

 sent up to me to ask what was the best remedy, as one of 

 his coolie boys had got a shot in the eye from an umf erzie 

 (a native name for either the ringhals or another Naja). 

 In speaking of the accident to one of my own boys (cool- 

 ies) he said, 'Oh, yes, I was also sulfering for some time 

 from the same cause.' " 



The bite of a snake is usually directed toward the foot 

 or leg, or a hand if near the ground, and one wonders 

 how a serpent on the ground should so elevate or poise its 

 head as to aim at the human eye. A serpent in a cage 

 on a stand might be more on a level and accidentally 

 reach an eye. But this question was fuUy discussed in 

 Chap. 19, p. 351, of my work on "Snakes," and the 

 marvel has lately been increased even to doubting point 

 by reading in Forest a:st> Stream of May 18, that the 

 poor little lizard, Phrynosoma cornutum, commonly 

 known as the "horned toad," actually squirted "a stream 

 of red fiuid" from one of its eyes into a taU man's face, 

 six feet it was estimated, reaching the man's hat. Also 

 that another of these spiky little reptiles spurted as much 

 as a lar-ge spoonful of blood into Mr. S. F. Denton's eye! 

 "Between a teaspoonful and a tablespoonful." Well, one 



would like to know the relative positions of man and 

 reptile. Was the latter on a table or on a level with the 

 face? and as for the quantity, was it collected and meas- 

 ured? We all know the w^onderfuUy diffusive capacity of 

 ink when upset on our writing table. Or a glass of 

 water! In a moment every article is satui-ated; it pours 

 on to the fioor and is half across the room — we might 

 suppose the glass had contained two quarts at least; so 

 does a little fluid in a wrong place magnify itself. One 

 would not suppose that the whole of the little reptile's body 

 contained a tablespoonful of blood . Some of the Forest and 

 Stream corre.spondents doubted the fact of a Crotalus gland 

 containing a teasponfulof venom, and now the little Phry- 

 nosovia can eject a tablespoonfvil of blood from one eye. 

 I may be pardoned for this digression as apropos of the 

 subject. I have had a pet "horned toad" and many other 

 pet Uzards, and have w-atched "spiky" on many occasions, 

 and shall carefully investigate the present subject, hoping 

 duly to report to Forest and Stream. But now to return 

 to our snakes. The same effect w^hich increases the water 

 in a drinking glass to an apparent half gallon w^hen spread 

 inconveniently about, would seem to exaggerate a spurt 

 of venom if even a few drops entered the eye. Supposing 

 a charge of venom was spurted tow^ard a face, the small 

 portion which entered the eye would claim prior atten- 

 tion and would be most keenly remembered and recorded; 

 but in relating the incident for pvxrposes of science it would 

 be necessary to accm-ately describe every detail. It is 

 looseness of 'description which has led to the many myths 

 and false impressions which have obtained in natural his- 

 tory books ever since natural history became a popular 

 science. Many of the Forest and Stream's correspond- 

 ents afford such vahiable information in their contribu- 

 tions, that I am sure all who really desu-e to advance true 

 science will pardon me for pointing out the importance of 

 accuracy. 



In concluding the subject of the ringhals, I find on re- 

 ferring to my note-book an account of some which were 

 in the Zoological Gardens of London in 1877 — ^the first I 

 had ever seen. They were three young ones of the same 

 brood and excited a good deal of interest. My impression 

 of their manners then has been singularly confirmed by 

 my more recent knowledge of them in their native coim- 

 try. "They were very black and very shy, and for a long 

 while one could see nothing more of them than three lit- 

 tle heads in a row peeping out from under their blanket, 

 watching with their large round black eyes and vanishing 

 like a shot at one's approach. When they did give us an 

 opportimity of looking at them after a time we found that 

 one was entirely black and another was speckled with 

 white. They erected their heads and distended their 

 necks defiantly. Whether because they were young and 

 inexperienced or because they were naturally stupid, of 

 all the snakes I w'atched none ever went to work so awk- 

 wardly in feeding. They seemed to bite the prey any- 

 where without much effect, sometimes retaining it in the 

 mouth without attempting to eat it, sometimes beginning 

 at once. A frog was ten minutes from the time 

 it was struck until it was swallowed. The ht- 

 tle snake began at a hind leg, then put it down 

 and began at the side with no better result; the legs were 

 in the way. Then the snake gave it up and let the frog 

 go, and presently another ringhals struck the half dead 

 thing and took five minutes to eat it. With very young 

 sparrows the same awkwardness was observable. The 

 bird was bitten on the tip of a wing, and the snake 

 held it helplessly for a quarter of an hour while the bird 

 was struggling violently. Not getting good hold the 

 snake put it down and began again, so that the poor little 

 sparrow was twenty minutes in being swallowed, gasping 

 to the last, and evidently very feebly poisoned. In no 

 other venomous snakes have I seen such prolonged suffer- 

 ing caused by stupidity or bungling as in those joxmg 

 African ringhals. Their fangs are, however, exceedingly 

 short, as I afterward found on examining a dead one, 

 and this may account for their slow effect." 



I may add that when taking these notes I stood with my 

 watch in hand, so that I could ascertain the time between 

 the bite and the death of the victim. In Chap. XXX. of 

 my work I have entered more at length into these obser- 

 vations. Catherine C. IIopley. 



Paignton, Devo nshire. 



A Midnight Marauder. 



Allen and William Laverty who own "Hunters' 

 Home," six miles from Elizabcthtown, N. Y., lost five 

 sheep a week ago as the result of an onslaught of some 

 wild animal. Their next neighbor, Chas. Coclan, also lost 

 five the same night. Though bears are very common in 

 this neighborhood the marauder is supposed to have been 

 a panther, both from his tracks and from the fact that he 

 did not attempt to eat or carry oft' the sheep he had killed. 

 Each sheep was killed cleanly by a bite on the neck. 

 But one old one managed to escape her antagonist. Deer 

 hunting promises to be better in this section this fall than 

 ever before. J. B. Burnham. 



"FOREST AND STREAM." 



An acrostic reminiscent of tours in the Adirondacks. 

 Fondly I dream of the mountain and vale, 

 Often in fancy o'er forest streams sail, 

 Kecall the bright pleasures of days gone by; 

 ISnter again the woods tow'ring high. 

 Stately and grand are the noble old trees, 

 The kings of the forest with crowns of leaves. 



Aiid woodlands I trail, with blaze nigh effaced, 

 Noting a pathway oft dimly traced, 

 Directing to lakes by mountains embraced. 



Scenes of such beauty what art can portray? 

 The gleaming and gloaming of June's perfect day, 

 Bivers of grandeur, whose wild waters pour 

 Enchantingly seaward through varied shore. 

 Ahl what rare visions come as I dream, 

 Musing o'er pages of Forest and Stream. 

 Ohio. E. S. W. 



A NEW-SUBSCRIBER OFFER. 



A bona fide new subscriber sending us $b will receive for that sum 

 the Forest aotj Stream one year (price $4) and a set of Zimmerman's 

 famous "Ducking Scenes" (advertised on another page, price S5)— a 

 $9 value for $5. 



This offer is to new subscribers only. It does not apply to renewals. 



For %'i a bona fide new subscriber for six months will receive the 

 FoRKST Asro Stream during that time and a copy of Dr. Van Fleet's 

 handsome work, "Bird Portraits for the Young'' (the price of which 

 is $3). 



Omaha and Kansas City 



Are reached most directly from either Chicago or St. Louis by the 

 Burlington Route. Daily vestibuled trains with Pullman sleepers, 

 chair cars (seats free) and Burhngton Route dining CBX&.—Adv. 



'^tti^ B^s B^^^* 



"Game Laws in Brief, ''^ June, 189S, revised. Game and Fish laws 

 of all the States, Territories a7id JProvinces. Correct, reliable, hand- 

 somely illustrated. Published by the '"Forest and Stream:''^ Sold by 

 all dealers. Price S6 cents. 



OUR NORTH CAROLINA TRIP. 



Monday, 3:50 P. M., Nov. 28, found us, myself and 

 wife, also our pointer dog, an important member of our 

 party on all our hunting trips, awaiting the arrival of the 

 Eoyal Blue Line from New York at the B. & O, station in 

 Philadelphia, dxm at 4:05, which would carry us to Balti- 

 more. Our wait of a few minutes seemed ridiculously 

 long, yet what sportsman would not tmderstand our im- 

 patience as we sat there dreaming of the expected pleas- 

 ure with gun and dog. We can already see our pointer 

 quartering the field, the stand, or a flock of bluebills cir- 

 chng to our decoys, as we in oiu- blind anxiously await 

 the proper moment to give them a warm reception. 



Finally our train came, and as usual on this elegantly 

 equipped road, fm-nishing such superior service, pulled us 

 into Canton exactly on time, where we took a transfer 

 tug for the Norfolk boat. After a sumptuous dinner we 

 reth-ed to a comfortable stateroom and slept as only one 

 can sleep with the cool air blowing in fresh from the 

 water. 



We awakened at Old Point Conifort, and by the time 

 we dressed and breakfasted the boat was making fast at 

 the wharf at Norfolk; here we walked across the city and 

 took the Norfolk & Southern Railroad for Elizabeth City, 

 Arriving there about noon, we found we would have to 

 wait until 6 P. M. for the steamer Neuse to take us to 

 Roanoke Island, our destination, which time we employed 

 in looking around this old, quaint and pretty Southern 

 town, and hunting some kind of an apology for lunch. 

 Even this, when found, was rather of a questionable 

 character. We, however, made good our sacrifice of 

 lunch at the supper table on board the Neuse. 



Arriving at Roanoke Island, we found Mr. Evans, the 

 proprietor of the Tranquil House at Manteo, awaiting us 

 with his team, as had been prearranged, and after a di-ive 

 of a countryman's three miles, reached liis hostelry and 

 were glad to tmn in, after a hard day's trip ending about 

 1 A. M., to further dream of quantities of game and won- 

 derful shots. 



The following morning, owing to our late anival, found 

 us rather imbued with some of the sluggish traits of our 

 Southern brethren, and arising rather late for sportsmen, 

 and a still later breakfast, about half past eight, we 

 started out to view the surrounding country, and see the 

 little village in which we proposed to make our home for 

 a couple of weeks, while we awaited the arrival of oirr 

 trimk. We found a beautiful cool crisp morning, old 

 Sol shining in the brightest of his glory upon the white 

 sand, which in our experience taught us we were close to 

 the sea, and in many respects resembled our dear old 

 summer resorts on the J ersey coast. 



On making the rounds of the different stores on a "stiU- 

 hunt" for the post office, which, of course, proved to be 

 in the last visited, we were surprised to find, in this Uttle 

 village of a few scattered houses and a Methodist church, 

 five general stores carrying the usual country fine, every- 

 thing imaginable from a paper of pins to a fisherman's 

 glim outfit, but we afterward learned that this was the 

 general distributing point for the wliole island, where 

 fishing is the chief and, we might say, the only industry. 



We saw the fishermen come in from their different 

 camps, a description of which we will give later, for their 

 week's supplies on Saturday afternoons and evenings, leav- 

 ing again on Monday morning from 2 o'clock on, for their 

 bleak, meagi-e, but not permanent, abodes, while following 

 their vocation. 



Strolling from the little settlement into the pine forests, 

 where the love of nature, in her wild vegetation, led us, 

 we followed an indistinct path called a road for several 

 miles, and wandering from it w^e soon came to the water's 

 edge, where a sight greeted our eyes that would make 

 the oldest sportsman's heart beat with a quicker, stronger 

 throb and send the blood tingling through his veins. 

 About a quarter of a mile out a reef runs parallel with 

 the shore, which in calm weather is the resort of thousands 

 of wildfowl. This particular morning it was occupied, 

 I should say, with a hundred or so swan. With now 

 and then a flock arriving, others departing, the flapping 

 of their wings, their pure snow white plumage, with the 

 sun glistening upon their beauty, gave us a never-to-be- 

 forgotten sight of splendor. Being imarmed, our traps 

 packed in the delayed trunk, we could but look and 

 admire, and had I had my Winchester I very much doubt 

 caring to spoil that wild sight of nature. 



Another point of interest was the peculiar formation of 

 what are termed "sand dimes," caused by the wind driv- 

 ing the sand in great banks, which frequently completely 

 cover the tall puies; they, in fact, help create theso-caUed 

 "dunes," forming a resistance to the sand as it gradually 

 piles against their trunks and limbs, and the changing of 

 the wind to ditterent directions forms many unique 

 shapes. It was a very common thing to see one of these 

 sand piles of an immense height with the upper limbs of 

 what woiild have been an enormous pine waving some 

 four feet above its top as the tree bent to the wind. 



We strayed for several hours along the water's edge, 

 "Listening to the music of the winds, 

 jEolian strains through lofty pines, 

 My soul goes forth, my being thrills, 

 I love the woods, the stream, the hills," 



and were deeply thankful to be alone from all civiliza- 

 tion. 



During our explorations our trunk arrived, and with a 

 hearty dinner of roast swan as a foundation for our after- 

 noon's sport, we took a smaU sailboat, and with a brisk 

 breeze flew to one of the many islands. We arranged 

 our decoys for the evening flight, but the wind was in 

 the wrong direction, so we were unable to bag anything 

 but a few^ coots. 



But the pleasure of lying in that blind under the bright 

 cloudless heavens, the breeze from the water fanning our 

 cheeks, every breath of which we could feel, giving us 

 that strength and health that nature's medicine can only 

 provide. 



Oh, the longing for the continuance of such a life where 

 we could constantly drink in nature as our Creator in- 

 tended us to enjoy His gifts, and which in the soHtude 



