Washington sentinel., 1898-02-05
The NaeoolSa snake.
ca8e Illustrated mar asine.

snake. l udu hNdld olA NAN W"J
coming eastward about the pecu-
liar traits ascribed to this animal,
so we'll known in the region OF
Mozambique, but l looked upon
the wonderful stories OF its sagacity
as fairy tales. Every detail of the
thing had been described to me:
the flat head, big eyes, fat belly,
and, most peculiar of all, the loud
rattles at the end Of the tail, like
those on the American rattlesnake.
1t was claimed for the Nagooka
that, though a most poisonous and
dangerous snake, it possessed the
one Christian virtue OF doing a
good turn to one who had be-
friended it,
The whole thing seemed like
tommy rot to me until, shortly
after daybreak one morning, while
pushing through the tangled
undeTbrush, l stumbled into an
open, and fell almost directly on
an immense fat head, illuminated
with eyes that seemed quite human
in their expression. A horrible
fascination riveted me to The spot,
and to save my soul / could not
move, though my face was nearly
touching the one that waved to
either side in a slow, pendulum-like
motion. / regained my senses as
suddenly as l had lost them, and,
springing back, was astonished not
to see the snake follow me. soon
noted the reason, however, for the
animal was caught fast in the fork
Of a tree stump, and bulge on
either side prevented it from NOV
ing.
My first impulse, of course, was
to shoot, but the longer / looked
at the beautiful brute--he was
about twenty leet from tip to tip
the more cruel it seemed to muir
der il. The eyes still maintained
a mild cali-like lustre. and seemed
incapable of deceit. Still. you can
never Judge an umbrella by the
cover, and | determined to let 60.
But when raised NV rife to my
shoulder the great head darted
frantlcally in every direction, now
raising itself in the air and again
doubling up toward the body and
scooting along the grass. The
eyes, too, narrowed down to an
ugly slit and so fascinated me
again that perforce l could not
shoot, but was drawn towards the
yellow and brown thing.
AT this the eyes again opened
frankly and pleadIngly. AT the
same time the serpent set up an in
cessant rattle with its tail, and then
l felt certain that / was up against
a Nagooka snake. Hesitating no
longer now, / made a lever out of
my gun barrel, and after consider
able exertion, succeeded in extri-
eating the huge body from the trap,
and whatever misgivings had van
ished straightway when the great
thing curled up at my feet and
gazed at me in mute thankiulness.
After that / could not shake him
off. By day he was either travel
ling beside me or in the rear, and
at night he made very acceptable
sentinel. / grew rather tired Of
the snake though and as / neared
home, shuddered at tae though OF
introducing it into the home circle
Threats, persuasions, and entreat-
les proved futile. The animal re-
fused to leave me. Isaw there was
no wav to get rid of rhe Nagooka
(ior Twas satisfied as to its identity
now) but to kill it or take it along
home. Thanks to my guardian
angel / decided on the latter
course. Otherwise l would not be
here TO tell the story.
In a short time my snake had
become a fixture, and though he
never fancied Curry and Rice and
the rag tag blacks about the place,
with my own family, and espec-
tally with the children, his conduct
was irreproachab,e. He made a
good watch, for a stranger never
approached our diggings but that
the Nagooka did not warn ug by a
loud rattle. November I3 that
year was the hottest day / ever
spent IN Africa, and the night was
no cooler. The sun had beat down
on the veldt until it was completely
baked In addition the bush fires
on all sides had taken every parti-
Gle Of moisture out Of the atmos.
phere, and lime kiln seemed like
a brewery compared to one;
mouth. For hours tossed wearllY
on the shakedown and finally, alter
midnight, lapsed into slumber.
seemed to have slept but a moment
when a terrific crash in the dining
room awoke me, followed instantly
by hoarse screams of terror in the
Basuto tongue.
Our house contained three
rooms. A large one used for com.
bination kitchen and dining room
occupied one side OF the house
being separated from the two bed
rooms by hall. The building. o
course, was very crude, and though
I had rugged up some doors, oui
windows consisted merely o
square holes in the logs. The no
weather permitted OF everything
being kept open in order to get al
the ventilation possible. The crash
knew Immediately, was caused
by the falling OF the only lamp W,
possessed, and the groans ano
scuffle told me that a terrific strug
gle was in progress
It took but trice TO grab my
-... -. i -, Il 49, kt,a drrr II, fO IN