into its comparatively small mouth in boa-constrictor fashion. One we shot was 11 feet 10 inches long, and as thick as a man's leg. When shot through the spine, it was capable of lifting itself up about five feet high, and opened its mouth in a threatening manner, but the poor thing was more inclined to crawl away. The flesh is much relished by the Bakalahari and Bushmen. They carry away each his portion, like logs of wood, over their shoulders.
* "As this snake, 'Bucephalus Capensis', in our opinion, is
not provided with a poisonous fluid to instill into wounds
which these fangs may inflict, they must consequently be
intended for a purpose different to those which exist in
poisonous reptiles. Their use seems to be to offer obstacles
to the retrogression of animals, such as birds, etc., while
they are only partially within the mouth; and from the
circumstance of these fangs being directed backward, and not
admitting of being raised so as to form an angle with the edge
of the jaw, they are well fitted to act as powerful holders
when once they penetrate the skin and soft parts of the prey
which their possessors may be in the act of swallowing.
Without such fangs escapes would be common; with such they are
rare.
"The natives of South Africa regard the 'Bucephalus Capensis'
as poisonous; but in their opinion we can not concur, as we
have not been able to discover the existence of any glands
manifestly organized for the secretion of poison. The fangs
are inclosed in a soft, pulpy sheath, the inner surface of
which is commonly coated with a thin glairy secretion. This
secretion possibly may have something acrid and irritating in
its qualities, which may, when it enters a wound, cause pain
and even swelling, but nothing of greater importance.
"The 'Bucephalus Capensis' is generally found on trees, to
which it resorts for the purpose of catching birds, upon which
it delights to feed. The presence of a specimen in a tree is
generally soon discovered by the birds of the neighborhood,
who collect around it and fly to and fro, uttering the most
piercing cries, until some one, more terror-struck than the
rest, actually scans its lips, and, almost without resistance,
becomes a meal for its enemy. During such a proceeding the
snake is generally observed with its head raised about ten or
twelve inches above the branch round which its body and tail
are entwined, with its mouth open and its neck inflated, as if
anxiously endeavoring to increase the terror which it would
almost appear it was aware would sooner or later bring within
its grasp some one of the feathered group.
"Whatever may be said in ridicule of fascination, it is
nevertheless true that birds, and even quadrupeds, are, under
certain circumstances, unable to retire from the presence of
certain of their enemies; and, what is even more
extraordinary, unable to resist the propensity to advance from
a situation of actual safety into one of the most imminent
danger. This I have often seen exemplified in the case of
birds and snakes; and I have heard of instances equally
curious, in which antelopes and other quadrupeds have been so
bewildered by the sudden appearance of crocodiles, and by the
grimaces and contortions they practiced, as to be unable to
fly or even move from the spot toward which they were
approaching to seize them."—Dr. Andrew Smith's "Reptilia".
In addition to these interesting statements of the most able
naturalist from whom I have taken this note, it may be added
that fire exercises a fascinating effect on some kinds of
toads. They may be seen rushing into it in the evenings
without ever starting back on feeling pain. Contact with the
hot embers rather increases the energy with which they strive
to gain the hottest parts, and they never cease their
struggles for the centre even when their juices are
coagulating and their limbs stiffening in the roasting heat.
Various insects, also, are thus fascinated; but the scorpions
may be seen coming away from the fire in fierce disgust, and
they are so irritated as to inflict at that time their most
painful stings.
Some of the Bayeiye we met at Sebituane's Ford pretended to be unaffected by the bite of serpents, and showed the feat of lacerating their arms with the teeth of such as are unfurnished with the poison-fangs. They also swallow the poison, by way of gaining notoriety; but Dr. Andrew Smith put the sincerity of such persons to the test by offering them the fangs of a really poisonous variety, and found they shrank from the experiment.
When we reached the Bamangwato, the chief, Sekomi, was particularly friendly, collected all his people to the religious services we held, and explained his reasons for compelling some Englishmen to pay him a horse. "They would not sell him any powder, though they had plenty; so he compelled them to give it and the horse for nothing. He would not deny the extortion to me; that would be 'boherehere' (swindling)." He thus thought extortion better than swindling. I could not detect any difference in the morality of the two transactions, but Sekomi's ideas of honesty are the lowest I have met with in any Bechuana chief, and this instance is mentioned as the only approach to demanding payment for leave to pass that I have met with in the south. In all other cases the difficulty has been to get a chief to give us men to show the way, and the payment has only been for guides. Englishmen have always very properly avoided giving that idea to the native mind which we shall hereafter find prove troublesome, that payment ought to be made for passage through a country.
