full of fish, but I never carried any tackle, so could
not catch any. But the natives of the lower reaches of the Olifant, the
Letaba, and the Limpopo often spear them. Snakes I seldom saw in the
Low Country. This may be accounted for by the circumstance that most of
my wanderings there took place in winter. During the course of my
various trips I did not see more than seven or eight snakes altogether.

Curiously enough, I saw three of these within the space of a few
minutes. Near the Lower Letaba I reached a circular depression the end
of a long, winding, dry water-course late one afternoon. The spot was
so beautiful that I decided to camp there, instead of going on several
miles farther, as I had intended. In the depression was a clear pool
surrounded by great rocks and tall trees. The ground in the vicinity
was carpeted with bright green grass.

After selecting a spot for my camp, I sent one of the bearers to
collect fuel, and the other to fetch water for the purpose of making
soup. The pool was less than fifty yards away. I heard the second
bearer give a yell; then he came running back, shouting that he had
seen a big snake. Picking up my rifle, I ran to the spot he indicated,
and saw about six feet of thick python disappearing among the creepers
which lay tangled over the rocks. I fired at the creature but missed
it.

In returning to the camping-place I nearly trod on a large puff-adder;
this I killed with a stone. Almost immediately afterwards the boy who
had been sent for firewood came up with a vicious-looking black and
yellow serpent squirming, broken-backed, on his stick. This was more
than my nerves could stand, so after filling the billy and the canteens
with water, we retired to a spot a few hundred yards away, up the
hillside. Here the vegetation was less rank, so we felt safer.

Next morning, just before daybreak, we heard a lion killing close to
the water. After day had fully broken, I went down and found some
hyenas breakfasting on the remains of a waterbuck.

Sleep's worst enemy in the Low Country was the hyena. The voice of this
beast is horrible; it begins with a guttural growl and ends with a
high-pitched screech. Although cowardly to a degree, hyenas would often
come to within less than a hundred yards of the fire. Occasionally they
might be heard on several sides at once, uttering their unspeakable
yells. We always noticed that the smell of roast meat attracted them;
when meat was boiled, the