ticularly venomous. One was killed at
Kolobeng of a dark brown, nearly black color, 8 feet 3 inches long. This
species (picakholu) is so copiously supplied with poison that, when a
number of dogs attack it, the first bitten dies almost instantaneously,
the second in about five minutes, the third in an hour or so, while
the fourth may live several hours. In a cattle-pen it produces great
mischief in the same way. The one we killed at Kolobeng continued to
distill clear poison from the fangs for hours after its head was cut
off. This was probably that which passes by the name of the "spitting
serpent", which is believed to be able to eject its poison into the eyes
when the wind favors its forcible expiration. They all require water,
and come long distances to the Zouga, and other rivers and pools, in
search of it. We have another dangerous serpent, the puff adder, and
several vipers. One, named by the inhabitants "Noga-put-sane", or
serpent of a kid, utters a cry by night exactly like the bleating of
that animal. I heard one at a spot where no kid could possibly have
been. It is supposed by the natives to lure travelers to itself by this
bleating. Several varieties, when alarmed, emit a peculiar odor, by
which the people become aware of their presence in a house. We have
also the cobra ('Naia haje', Smith) of several colors or varieties. When
annoyed, they raise their heads up about a foot from the ground, and
flatten the neck in a threatening manner, darting out the tongue and
retracting it with great velocity, while their fixed glassy eyes
glare as if in anger. There are also various species of the genus
'Dendrophis', as the 'Bucephalus viridis', or green tree-climber. They
climb trees in search of birds and eggs, and are soon discovered by all
the birds in the neighborhood collecting and sounding an alarm.* Their
fangs are formed not so much for injecting poison on external objects
as for keeping in any animal or bird of which they have got hold. In
the case of the 'Dasypeltis inornatus' (Smith), the teeth are small, and
favorable for the passage of thin-shelled eggs without breaking. The egg
is taken in unbroken till it is within the gullet, or about two inches
behind the head. The gular teeth placed there break the shell without
spilling the contents, as would be the case if the front teeth were
large. The shell is then ejected. Others appear to be harmless, and even
edible. Of the latter sort is the large python, mets