CH. XIV 
SNAKES 
*39 
behind with my camp equipment, my men and I 
had settled down under some thick shrubs to pass 
the night. It was a night of torrential rain, and 
having warmly wrapped myself up in my blankets, 
which I had fortunately brought along with me, I 
was about to fall asleep, when I felt a chill, slimy 
contact with my skin and knew that a snake had 
crawled under my blanket and curled itself up 
between my legs. It was a horrible predicament; 
if I moved and alarmed the reptile, I should 
probably be bitten and die a painful death within a 
few hours, for all my medicines were behind with 
my baggage, so calling as quietly as possible to two 
of my men and explaining the situation to them, I 
asked them to remove, with the greatest care, the 
blanket covering me. This they did, disclosing a 
large puff-adder that had probably crawled into the 
position I have described to seek warmth and 
shelter from the downpour of rain. Telling my 
men to put their arms gently under my shoulders 
and at a given signal to pull me with all their 
strength clear of the danger, I counted one, two, 
three, when they both heaved with a will, while I 
simultaneously flung my legs apart to avoid further 
contact with the reptile. I was simply shot clear of 
the danger, and the snake, alarmed by the move¬ 
ment, was about to make off when my men des¬ 
patched it with sticks. 
