156 Wanderings in Eastern Africa. 
loathing and disgust. You witness their stealthy 
ghdings, their slimy coiled-up forms ; you catch the 
keen gleam of their glassy eyes ; you view the quick 
darting of their forked tongues ; and you do not think 
so much of their being poisonous or otherwise ; they 
are snakes^ and you instinctively shudder. Once pro- 
ceeding down a steep hill-side I had an experience 
which I shall never forget. Making my way through 
a thicket I suddenly felt something cold and slimy 
about my neck ; a thrill of horror went through me ; 
my blood chilled ; my heart ceased its beating ; an in- 
voluntary exclamation of disgust escaped my lips : 
in another instant a long, green snake coiled its way 
down my right arm and disappeared in the tall grass ! 
I was almost petrified ! Ugh ! I shudder even now ! 
Fortunately I was not bitten, and perhaps the thing 
was not venomous, but the shock was all the same to 
me. 
Leopards are common visitors at Ribe. They 
raise a great hue and cry, and now and again they 
have broken their way into the goat-house. On one 
occasion, before anyone could go to the rescue, no less 
than eight goats were struck dead, each having the 
claw-marks in precisely the same place on the neck 
just behind the head. The audacity of these animals 
is extraordinary. Sitting at my door one evening I 
fell asleep, a dog sleeping by my side, when the grunt 
of a leopard awoke me. I rose and retired to rest. 
Next evening I occupied the same position, the dog 
being with me as before. Remembering what had 
occurred on the preceding night I kept awake, and 
retired at an earlier hour. I had no sooner entered 
the house, however, than I heard a scuffle at the door; 
