134 
THE SPITTING COBRA 
THE SPITTING COBRA 
By E. K. Boileau 
Mr. C. W. Hobley’s interesting paper on the Spitting Cobra 
afforded me a great deal of interest — I may say personal 
interest, as I was, a few years ago, a victim to the spitting 
propensities of this snake. The incident occurred some time 
in October 1908 when on a fortnight’s leave (after Lesser Kudu) 
at Maji Mazuri, near Voi. I was sitting at dinner with a friend 
when we heard an unusual commotion in a cageful of doves 
which he kept just outside the house. On going out to learn 
the cause of the disturbance we found that a snake had got 
into the cage through the meshes of the wire netting and 
had already killed three of the inmates. 
This snake was of a beautiful bright orange colour, with 
a green band round its throat and the typical cobra hood. 
We endeavoured to kill it by inserting sticks into the cage, and 
my companion having pinned it against one of the corners, I 
foolishly placed my face close to the wire netting with which 
the front of the cage was covered. The snake immediately 
ejected a stream of colourless fluid, a portion of which struck 
me in the left eye, a drop or two on my lip, and a few drops on 
the front of my khaki shirt. I almost immediately experienced 
intense pain in my eye, which increased to such an extent that 
I was in fearful agony all that night. I did not then know the 
remedy which a medical friend kindly told me of some months 
afterwards — and that is to float pure salad oil into the eye — 
and so could only think of bathing the affected part with warm 
water. To cut the story short, I was unable to use my ej^e for 
two days, and I think to this day that the sight of that eye 
has been materially affected. 
I have since seen another specimen of this snake and the 
Wataita tell me that it is quite common ; they are well aware 
of its spitting capacities. It is interesting to note that the 
snake described by Mr. Hobley was blackish-grey, whilst the 
* Ring-haas ’ of South Africa, which is well known to spit, is 
black with a white collar. I should be glad to know if the 
