I was going quietly to bed one evening, wearied by a long day's
hunting, when, close to my feet, and by my bedside, some glittering
substance caught my eye. I stooped to pick it up; but, ere my hand had
quite reached it, the truth flashed across me--it was a snake! Had I
followed my first natural impulse, I should have sprung away, but not
being able clearly to see in what position the reptile was lying, or
which way his head was pointed, I controlled myself, and remained
rooted breathless to the spot. Straining my eyes, but moving not an
inch, I at length clearly distinguished a huge puff-adder, the most
deadly snake in the colony, whose bite would have sent me to the other
world in an hour or two. I watched him in silent horror: his head was
from me--so much the worse; for this snake, unlike any other, always
rises and strikes back. He did not move; he was asleep. Not daring to
shuffle my feet, lest he should awake and spring at me, I took a jump
backwards, that would have done honour to a gymnastic master, and thus
darted outside the door of the room. With a thick stick, I then
returned and settled his worship. Some parts of South Africa swarm
with snakes; none are free from them. I have known three men killed by
them in one harvest on a farm in Oliphant's Hoek. There is an immense
variety of them, the deadliest being the puff-adder, a thick and
comparatively short snake. Its bite will kill occasionally within an
hour. One of my friends lost a favourite and valuable horse by its
bite, in less than two hours after the attack. It is a sluggish
reptile, and therefore more dangerous; for, instead of rushing away,
like its fellows, at the sound of approaching footsteps, it half
raises its head and hisses. Often have I come to a sudden pull-up on
foot and on horseback, on hearing their dreaded warning! There is also
the cobra-capello, nearly as dangerous, several black snakes, and the
boem-slang, or tree-snake, less deadly, one of which I once shot seven
feet long. The Cape is also infested by scorpions, whose sting is
little less virulent than a snake-bite; and by the spider called the
tarantula, which is extremely dreaded.--_The Cape, by A. W. Cole_.