1811. 
THE POF-ADDER. 
469 
eaten down as smooth as a lawn, and as verdant. What there might 
be in this particular spot, so different from all the surrounding 
country, to occasion the peculiarity, I had not time to examine ; 
although it was evident, by the quantity of manure from various ani- 
mals, principally quakkas, that it was their favourite grazing place. 
One of the Hottentots who was in advance, surprized a large 
adder of most extraordinary thickness, and, by means of a long stick, 
killed it before I could come up with him in time to see it alive. 
All the people shuddered as they viewed it, and some would not 
venture to approach it, even though dead, so greatly is this particular 
species dreaded. 
It is well known in the Colony, and at Klaarwater, by the name 
of the Pof-Adder (Puff Adder.) * Its venom is said to be most 
fatal, taking effect so rapidly as to leave the person who has the 
misfortune to be bitten, no chance of saving his life,, but by instantly 
cutting out the flesh surrounding the wound. Although I have 
often met with this serpent, yet, happily, no opportunity occurred 
of witnessing the consequences of its bite : but, from the universal 
dread in which it is held, I have no doubt of its being one of the 
most venomous of Southern Africa. There is a peculiarity which 
renders it more dangerous, and which ought to be known by every 
person liable to fall in with it. Unlike the generality of snakes, 
which make a spring, or dart forwards, when irritated, the Puff 
Adder, it is said, throws itself backwards ; so that those who should 
be ignorant of this fact would place themselves in the very direction 
of death, while imagining that by so doing they were escaping the 
danger. The natives, by keeping always in front, are enabled to 
destroy it without much risk. The snakes of Africa, as of Europe, 
lie concealed in their holes, in a torpid state, during the colder part 
of the year. It is, therefore, only in the hottest summer months 
* Vipera injlata, B. Fusca, undique fasciis transversis angulosis vel undulatis albis 
nigrisque, variegata. Corpus ci'assissimum, 2 — 3-pollicare. Longitudo usque ad 4^ 
pedes. 
