A SNAKE 
111 
CH. v] 
down into the river bottom proper. In the bottom 
there were large, open, grassy places, while the trees 
made a thick fringe along the river course. We had 
given up the impalla and turned out towards the plain, 
when one of my gun-bearers whistled to us, and said he 
had seen the wounded animal cross the bottom and go 
into the fringe of trees bounding a deep pool, in which 
we knew there were both hippos and crocodiles. We 
were off our horses at once, and, leaving them at the 
top, scrambled down the descent and crossed the bottom 
to the spot indicated. The impalla had lain down as 
soon as it reached cover, and as we entered the fringe 
of wood I caught a glimpse of it getting up and making 
off. Yet fifty yards farther it stopped again, standing 
right on the brink of the pool, so close that w r hen I shot 
it, it fell over into the water. 
When, after arranging for this impalla to be carried 
back to the farm, we returned to where our horses had 
been left, the boys told us with much excitement that 
there was a large snake near by ; and, sure enough, a 
few yards off, coiled up in the long grass under a small 
tree, was a python. I could not see it distinctly, and, 
using a solid bullet, I just missed the backbone, the 
bullet going through the body about its middle. 
Immediately the snake lashed at me with open jaws, 
and then, uncoiling, came gliding rapidly in our 
direction. I do not think it was charging ; I think 
it was merely trying to escape. But Judd, who 
was utterly unmoved by lion, leopard, or rhino, evidently 
held this snake in respect, and yelled to me to get out 
of the way. Accordingly, I jumped back a few feet, 
and the snake came over the ground where I had stood ; 
its evil genius then made it halt for a moment and raise 
its head to a height of perhaps three feet, and I killed it, 
