The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-12-09
DEADLY SPLITTING SNAKE.
The Experience of a Naturalist in
the Forests of Southern
Africa.
He Did Not Believe in Splitting
Snakes Until He Met
One.
A Black Cobra at Bay-A Living Picture
OF Conscious Power and Dread
ful Rage.

eldered a myth; but / myself founo the
creature there.
One day IN 1877, while I was living at
Grahamstown, in the Cape Colony, l went
out for a snake hunt in Currie's kloof. An
alpenstock. revolver. hunting knife and
binooular glass composed, as usual, my
equipment.
Now, this South African country is very
different from our American landscapes.
The sky is ever cloudless. There are days,
weeks. even months of Uninterrupted sun
shine. Consequently the extreme dryness
of the atmosphere entirely precludes that
delightful greenness which renders a Euro
pean or American country 80 charming.
The city of Grahamstown lies in a valley
amongst hills 1000 feet above the sea. The
country in every direction is unencumbered
by fence or wall, so that AWAY across the
continent to Khartoum the traveller may
walk or ride. finding no other barrier to his
progress than mountains and rivers.
For a considerable distance to the north
the country is park like. with hills rising
200, sometimes 300 feet. above the plain.
their sides covered by grass Drowned in the
sunshine or by sc,ubby brush twenty or
thirty feet high. struggling to draw life
= " ohoahS oSAAs " ~
hil!tops the rocks crop out in every direc-
ton. too hot in the eternal solar glare
to give resting place to any living
thing except lizards. In spite of all this
heat and drought and apparent s~terility,
flowers grow in abundance. At times the
thorny acacia is loaded with yellow bios
SONS, and the air is oppressive with its per-
fume. Creeping geraniums crown the tree
tops with SPLENDID. White and pink gladi-
olas wave everywhere. Great aloe-liks
plants flourish in the hooks of the hot
rocks, and the crimson bells of the heath
blaze out bright as Goals of living fire. In
the heat and moisture of the kloofs or
mountain ravines the trees grow tall and
stately. with great orchid covered
vines stretching like ropes f,om
;" n. s to ol ao1sa5no or s ns4pra
gymnasium for the balloons and monkeys to
frisk in. The tres-fern waves its feathery
fronds in the warm wind. and countless
varieties drape every overhanging bank
and fill every crack of rock, or tree stump,
forming shady retreats for the puff adder
to sleep in. and ambush for snatohing the
wandering woodrat as he nibbles his nuts
in the neighhorhood.
This beautiful snake. which is also one of
the most deadly in the world. abounds in
all the billy land of the Cape Colony. Both
cobras and puff adders swarm around about
Grahamstown. Many q day have i spent
among the rocks watching their ways and
Misunderstanding their lives at home.
On this special day l had been lying a
couple of hours behind a rock watching
through my blnocnlar a small snake of the
genus psammophis chasing lizards within a
few yards of me. Heated with the sun
which had been blazing on my back all the
time, and being very thirsty besides, l had
then zone down to a big stengu tres grow
ing in the valley to refresh myself with the
popiau, oon re ifa eupculapt rpotc fnr M
water was to be had. Quenching my
thirst | had lain down in the shade at its
foot.
All was silence and solitude around, ex-
cept for the cicadas, which kept up one IN
changing and intending song. 1t WAS the
bottom of the valley where l lay, and out
before me ran q level stretch clear of trees
for a hundred yards or mole. In the mid
die rose a small bush of acacia horriaa,
from which We get our gum arabic, thick
all over with little flower tufts of yellow.
The ground around WAS covered with the
bright green of a creeping mesembryanthe-
mum, all starred over with purple flowers,
looking like a rich oriental carpet ready
~ read for the denizens of the wilderness to
stretch themselves upon. And all this time
there WIS one of them lying in the sun-one
of the most beautiful and dreadful of
Africa's animal wonders.
The birds called my attention to him. |
SUPPOSE they espied him from the surround
ing tree-tops and they flew down to the
acacia bush to They suddenly
raised such a confusion of chatteriue that
| took up my glass to see what Was the
matter. They seemed greatly excited, hop
ping hurriedly from twig to twig, Tapping
their wings and crying out all tho time. /
could perceive no cause until l stood up.
Then there appeared with his broad neck
fattened ont a large black cobra (sepedon
Haemachates) slowly gliding about OH the
green carpet within a yard of the birds.
For some minutes l watched the scene.
but fearing he might disappear in the mole
holes, which were numerous all around, l
seized my long stick and advanced upon
him. His tail was toward me and his at
tention fixed on the birds. / could see his
glistening black eyes and every moment
the forked tongue would lap out medita-
lively, as if he We;e contemplating a spring.
He saw me as l approached. and, turning
quickly around, he threw himself into u
position of attack. His head with two
thirds of his body stood up perpendicuiariy
from the ground, while the remaining part
was gathered into u coil for support. The
tongue was eXserted rapidly. the ietty eyes
g!istened brightly above the spreading
hood, the white rings on his throat ap-
peared across the center of the hoodlike
armorial bearings on the shield of a war
FLOR. Altogether he was a most beautiful,
but dreadful, sight.
Facing him, l stood on guard with my
stick Rrasped in both hands. studying how
/ could best pin his head to the ground
with it so as to catch him safely by the
neck.
As | moved he came forward to meet me,
but still standing erect-a living picture of
conscious power and dreadful rage. He
Godged the stick, then struck at me. He
was about five feet off, and too far to reach
me. Up to that time | had not believed in
splitting snakes; but as this black fellow
struck forward toward me two thin, bright
streams came from his mouth. On of them
struck me in the face. wetting my right
cheek close beneath the eye. ! paused for
a moment in astonishment, uncertain, in
my surprise, whether any of it had gone
into my eye, but as / felt nothing, | con-
Guided it had not, and wiped the drops
from my face with the sleeve of my coat.
Then l captured him.
He was added to my collection of living
snakes, where he often afterward repeated
the pet formance behind the glass of his
cage for the amusement of myself and nv
faugr, as ! had many OCCASIONS of obsery-
ing, by the force Of muscular compression
i'll the act of striking, and lot by the impe-
tus of exhaied breath.
l know from obse walton that the poison
of this snake will destroy the sight of ami
mails, tempo arily at least. The eye, inter
being touched by it. appears RS if covered
by q white Opaque film. After IA time, now
over, | have seen this disappear and the
normal appearance resumed. Further than
this ! have not examined it's effects.
In consequence of the great development