ZOOLOGY 
359 
of sheer ill temper have struck at and killed a tame crane or a young antelope. 
The cobra or one of the cobras which inhabit this part of Africa has the 
extraordinary faculty of ejecting its venom by a spasmodic movement of the 
muscles pressing on the poison gland in such a way as to spurt the venom 
through the air for a considerable distance from the perforated tooth. The 
snake is said to aim at the eyes and if the poison enters the eye it apparently 
sets up a severe inflammation, though it is only fatal if it manages to enter the 
blood. On the Congo, as in South Africa, the same peculiarity is noticed in this 
snake, which for this reason is called by the Boers “ the spitting snake.” 
In all my seven years’ experience of British Central Africa I cannot recall 
a single instance occurring within my knowledge of a native, European or 
Indian having been killed by a poisonous snake. Of course I would not allege 
that such cases do not occur amongst the natives (who have a great dread 
of snakes) ; I only say that although continually enquiring 1 have never had an 
instance brought to my notice. On two occasions, at least, my servants were 
struck by puff-adders, but the wound having been cauterized and the men dosed 
with enormous quantities of whisky a complete recovery ensued. Of course it 
is possible for the puff-adder to bite without causing death even if no remedies 
are taken, as the poison gland is sometimes exhausted or even at some seasons 
of the year less well supplied than at others. When we first set to work to 
clear the site of a town at Chiromo in 1891-92 snakes were all over the place. 
They chiefly inhabited the huge ant hills of the termites, but wherever they 
came from they swarmed over the newly-cleared ground, especially in the cool 
evening. On one occasion walking up the main street in the dusk I heard 
a low hissing sound under my feet, stopped short, and a long cobra glided out 
from between my feet, making no gesture of menace but quietly retiring to 
a neighbouring dust heap. 1 am almost ashamed to say I killed it here, 
crippling it with clods of earth, but considering its magnanimity when crawling 
between my legs it deserved to live. Yet, during all this period I never once 
heard of a native or European being bitten at Chiromo, and certainly no one 
died from any such cause. The natives, however, speak with great dread of 
certain snakes, above all of the Mamba, or tree cobra ( Dendraspis ) which in 
the breeding season is very savage and will dart out from the grass or bush and 
attack passers-by. 
Pythons are sometimes met with of a very large size; one that was 
measured was 18 feet 2 inches long. Of course they are not poisonous and 
are only dangerous if anybody deliberately placed himself in contact with the 
snake and allowed it to coil round and crush him. As a matter of fact the 
python is a rather defenceless creature, inasmuch as its bulk is large and it 
is easily wounded, while not being as agile as smaller snakes in escaping or 
having any powers of defence but actual contact. Yet pythons will, if suddenly 
disturbed, be ready to stand at bay. Once near the north end of Lake Nyasa I 
suddenly disturbed a python in a thicket through which I was groping along 
a native path. The snake barred my way and was so menacing that I had 
to return to the camp and get a gun to shoot it. 
There is nothing specially remarkable about the Batrachians so far as they 
are yet known. A list of those that have been identified will be found among 
the appendices to this chapter. 
That remarkable connecting link, the mud fish (Protopterus) should be 
found in most parts of British Central Africa, but hitherto it has only been 
reported from the Tanganyika district. The French missionaries on that lake 
