e pallah, or tari.
The largest specimens of this are about 15 or 20 feet in length. They
are perfectly harmless, and live on small animals, chiefly the rodentia;
occasionally the steinbuck and pallah fall victims, and are sucked 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