A COBRA DI CAPELLO. 
107 
nostrils, which is the mode of bridling the camel, 
when a soldier, impatient at the delay, advanced and 
struck the animal a violent blow on the knee with 
the handle of his bayonet. The mild spirit of the 
camel was instantly converted into the most implaca- 
ble hostility. Its eyes flashed fire ; its nostrils ex- 
panded ; it stamped, projected its ears, and snorted 
violently. The expression of its fury was indescriba- 
ble. The soldier heeded not this fearful menace, 
but repeated the blow. The creature’s eyes now di- 
lated to an intense stare, assuming at the same mo- 
ment a glare of the most deadly ferocity ; bending 
down its head, its jaws distended and its lips qui- 
vering with rage, it seized the soldier by the arm 
between the elbow and the shoulder, raised him in 
the air, snapping the bone in an instant, shook him 
furiously, then dashed him upon the ground, and was 
preparing to repeat the punishment, when the wounded 
man was rescued by some of his comrades, and the 
camel secured. It would not, however, suffer itself 
to be loaded, and was led forward by the driver, the 
baggage which it should have borne being divided 
between the less turbulent of its fellow beasts of 
burthen. 
Shortly after the departure of our military compa- 
nions, I took my gun and proceeded into a neighbour- 
ing wood in search of game, and as I was standing 
near a spot thickly overgrown with short bushes, the 
native attendant who accompanied me suddenly gave 
an exclamation of alarm, pointing at my feet and 
exhibiting at the same time, every symptom of ex- 
treme terror. Perfectly unconscious of the cause of 
