ch. viii] POISONOUS SNAKES 193 
straight into its chest, and knocked it flat with the blow. 
As it tried to struggle to its feet, I again knocked it flat 
with the left-hand barrel; but it needed two more 
bullets before it died, screaming like an engine whistle. 
Before I fired my last shot I had walked up directly 
beside the rhino ; and just then Tarlton pointed out to 
me a greater bustard, stalking along with unmoved 
composure at a distance of a hundred and fifty yards. 
I took the Springfield, and, kneeling down beside the 
rhino s hind-quarters, I knocked over the bustard, and 
then killed the rhino. We rode into camp by moon¬ 
light. Both these rhinos had their stomachs filled with 
the closely chewed leaves and twig-tips of short brush 
mixed with grass—rather thick-stemmed grass—and in 
one case with the pulpy, spiny leaves of a low, ground- 
creeping euphorbia. 
At this camp we killed five poisonous snakes : a light- 
coloured tree-snake, two pufi-adders, and two seven-foot 
cobras. One of the latter three times 44 spat ” or ejected 
its poison at us, the poison coming out from the fangs 
like white films or threads, to a distance of several feet. 
A few years ago the singular power of this snake, and 
perhaps of certain other African species, thus to eject 
the poison at the face of an assailant was denied by 
scientists; but it is* now well known. Selous had 
already told me of an instance which came under his 
own observation ; and Tarlton had once been struck in 
the eyes and for the moment nearly blinded by the 
poison. He found that to wash the eyes with milk was 
of much relief. On the bigger puff-adder, some four 
feet long, were a dozen ticks, some swollen to the size 
of cherries ; apparently they were disregarded by their 
sluggish and deadly host. Heller trapped some jackals, 
of two species ; and two striped hyenas, the first we had 
13 
