SNAKES. 201 
lions have been relaxed by the heats of sum¬ 
mer. 
Having breakfasted in the morning at this 
miserable little place, I proceeded on my jour¬ 
ney up this South-west Mountain. In the 
course of the day’s ride I observed a great 
number of snakes, which were now beginning 
to come forth from their holes. I killed a 
black one, that I found sleeping, stretched across 
the road; it was five feet in length. The black 
snake is more commonly met with than any 
other in this part of America, and is usually 
from four to six feet in length. In proportion 
to the length it is extremely slender ; the back 
is perfectly black, the hell.^^^K^^lour, in¬ 
clining to white towards the ij^^t. The 
bite of this snake is not poisohbus, and the 
people in that country are not generally inclin¬ 
ed to kill it, from its great utility in destroying 
rats and mice. It is wonderfully fond of milk, 
and is frequently found in the dairies, which 
in Virginia are for the most part in low situa¬ 
tions, like cellars, as the milk could not other¬ 
wise be kept sweet for two hours together in 
summer time. The black snake, at the time 
of copulation, immediately pursues any person 
who comes in sight, and with such swiftness, 
i 
that the best runner cannot escape froin him 
upon even ground. Many other sorts of harm- 
Jes snakes are found here, some of which are 
