e contest raged for a few
moments. The cobra flung itself hither and thither, and getting free,
endeavoured to come down the room towards the door. Some sage advisers
say, "Hit a snake on the tail and he will die." But when it is
twisting about with marvellous rapidity and tying itself into
fantastic knots, there is no time to consider where to hit it. No time
is to be lost, and you must hit it wherever you can. I did so with the
cobra, who presently began to show signs of collapse, and I was able
to batter its head and the danger was over. We were grateful that the
adventure ended so favourably. We hung up the corpse on a thorn hedge
near by, as a warning to his tribe. But a snake is a dainty morsel to
many creatures, and by the morning it was gone.

Indians walking noiselessly with bare feet run a special risk,
especially at night when snakes are on the move. But in spite of the
number in the Yerandawana neighbourhood, I have never known a case of
snake-bite. They invariably try to get out of the way when they hear
anybody coming. The night-watchmen, who form part of the complicated
establishment of most bungalows in India as a supposed safeguard
against thieves, often have bits of jingling iron fastened on to the
end of the stick which they always carry. The typical night-watchman
at any rate once in the course of the night makes his noisy round of
the compound, striking his stick on the ground, partly in order to
frighten away snakes by the rattling of the iron, and partly to assure
his employer of his alertness. It takes a little time before you learn
to accept this as only one amongst the many other noises of the Indian
night, and not to be taken any notice of. If you feel any compunction
at resting comfortably in bed while the watchman is abroad, you will
be relieved if you chance to come out at any other hour except that at
which he is accustomed to take his little round. You are almost sure
to find him sleeping peacefully and soundly in the verandah. Possibly
in former days, when night alarms were more frequent and thieves more
aggressive than they are now, the watchman was more on the alert.

One night some of the villagers came to ask me to come down into the
village and help them in a difficulty. It appeared that for the last
three or four nights they had been alarmed by stones being slung into
the place from a distance. They fell with considerable force, and if
they had struck anyone he would have been ser