The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1892-10-20


ress much more moderate. Besides
had not such an important engagement
to keep as the Zulu. The latter had
lost all control of his movements, and
flew down the declivity at express
speed, the cobra making prodigious
bounds behind him. When the dis
lance between the Zulu and the snake
was not more than three feet, the
former caught his toe in the root Of u
tree and fell full length on the ground,
clutching some tufts of grass to pre-
vent rolling. The snakes impetus was
evidently uncomfortable also, for it
bounded clear over the Frustrated Zulu
and continued the pace 10 the. bottom
of the hill.
fastened to join the boy, thinking
the snake might return to attack him,
but it had abandoned the hunt was
bent on having the snake, however,
and told the native to cut two stout
sticks, armed with which we proceeded
to hunt up our whilom pursuer. 1t
took some little time in the thick
grass, but we eventually spotted him,
stretched out near tree. As we came
in sight he made for us viciously, but
blow from my stick made him retreat.
Following him up saw him attempt
to hide in a hole about twelve inches
deep, scratched in an ant heap. He
was obviously under the impression
tina. he had st.ucl< a deep hiding place,
and US he touched bottom turned
sharply around to come out again,
when placed my stick below his head
and held him to the ground to watch
his antics. The fierce look Of baftied
rage and malignant hatred which
shone in his eyes was simply in
describable. AS bent down to look
into them l forgot the danger was in
curing and became quite interested in
watching the reptile, when pitt! Pit!
the cobra discharged its venom at me.
A second later and I crushed it's head
with my stick.
When we returned to the wagons the
first remark my companions made was:
what the mischief is the matter
with your hair? It is quite green"
And so it was; the poison from the
snakes fangs had struck my hair above
the right temple and turned it as YER
dant as young corn. lost no time in
shaving that portion of my head, as
there was some risk in the venom BE-
coming absorbed through the pores of
the scalp.
Of course this incident naturally led
to snake yarns, and one of our party
related a sad misfortune which befell q
relative of his, who had, under some
what similar circumstances to those
related, been spat upon by snake in
Natal. The venom, in his case, had
entered his eye, causing excruciating
agonies and completely binding it.
After fortnight the other eye had also
lost its sight, and the man is now total
ly blind. My escape was therefore a
very fortunate one.
A few days after this we were in an
other part of Zululand, and my three
companions had gone on two days.
hunt with some traders, remaining to
look after our outfit. The evening was
~erZ sultry, and instead of sleeping in
tho wagon, as l usually did, I spread
my blankets on the ground and slept
with the azure canopy of heaven above
me. know no more delightful feel
ing than that of waking up under a
s'tarlit summer sky in Africa, with the
refreshing night breeze softly tanning
your cheek; but on this special occa.
sion as woke l was conscious of a
creepy sensation about my neck. which
took all the romance out of the situa-
ton. Feeling cautiously to ascertain
the cause, was Mortified to feel nv
fingers come in contact with the moist
body OF a snake. The position was
fearfully trying to the nerves. dare
not shout to the wagon boys. who were
sleeping within ten yards of me, still
less could venture to roll away The
least movement on my part might cause
the visitor to fasten its fangs in my
neck. So there 1 lay, hoping against
hope that one of the snoring natives
would wake up and discover my posi-
ton. To make the situation still more
intolerable, first my nose began to itch
consumedly, then the tickling sensation
spread to every individual inch Of
my anatomy and each itched worse
than the other, and I dare not scratch
or move in any direction. I had no
means Of knowing where the snakes
head lay or how far it had coiled itself
around my neck. In fact. it seemed to
me, as lay counting the seconds, that
its body was in contact with every
part OF my frame. Slowly and YEARLY
the minutes dragged ON until began
to think that eternity had surely ar
rived. and that the sun never intended
lighting up this globe again. Then
the gray light in the east gave me some
comfort, but not much, for I was now
tortured with the fear that my COM
panion might wake and perhaps give
me q bite or two just by way of re-
*minder that: we had passed the night
together, or that the Zulus in getting
up would disturb the snake and anger
him. ~ ~, -. y ,sss .s>s,s
My head was fortunately turned TO-
ward the wagon, and as the sun rose
one Of the boys sat up and yawned. At
that moment he caught my eye. and !
presumesthe expression. Of It Was alarm
ing, for his yawn !. was suddenly
strangled and he approached me softly.
The Zulu immediately grasped the situ-
alton and, returning to the wagon,
brought aspade. The snakes head
was resting, fortunately for me, on. the
blanket, while his body was partly on
my chest and mock, where he had crept
for warmth. With one swift scoop the
native swept the snakes head OF the
blanket with the spade snd instantly
decapitated it.
Perhaps did not feel rslisvsd . :