In the Mitchell district, the year before last,
I had turned in about ten o'clock at night,
and lay busily planning out the programme of
my future campaign in the far west, not far
from Burke and Wills's tract, when all at once,
as I turned on my side, I felt a snake underneath
the blanket on which I lay, and close to
my shoulder. I felt it, through the blanket,
gently with my hand. There was no doubt of the
fact; there it was, and what was to be done!
After much reflection I thought it best to lie
still, as, from my weight on the edges of the
blanket, it could do no harm until morning,
whereas, if I stirred, it would probably have a
fair chance at me. So I lay still and slept
heartily till after sunrise, when I discovered
that the supposed snake was the thong of a
stock-whip which my son had deposited there
for safety.

Soon after I was sent to the Logan, I was
returning one afternoon late to my camp, which
was in a place very difficult to find even by
daylight, but next to impossible in darkness. I was
pushing on my horse as rapidly as the thick timber
would allow, when I saw an enormous black
snake a little to the left of my track. The light
was fast failing, and, although I make it a matter
of conscience to kill every snake I can, I determined
to pass him. To my astonishment,
however (I had never seen the like before), the
beast made right towards me with a wicked hiss.
This was more than I could bear, so I got off
my horse, determined to "wipe him out." I
don't think I ever had such difficulty in killing
a snake, and was never in such danger—save
once, which I will speak of in due course. I
selected a piece of wood, and made furious
whacks at him, which were unsuccessful. The
stick broke in two, but my blood was up; so,
fearing that he would escape, I went very close
to him to give him a finisher. Before I could
do so, he turned with wonderful quickness and
seized me by the arm, hanging on to the bite in
such a venomously tenacious way that I knew
he had emitted his poison. When I felt the
puncture I grew reckless, and seized him with
both hands, fortunately near the neck, and
destroyed him. I brought him to my camp, tying
him with a saddle-strap to the D-hook of the
saddle, skinned him that evening, and found in
him thirteen eggs as large as those of pullets.
He was the largest black snake I ever saw—
upwards of six feet. I experienced no ill effects,
as he had not drawn blood, but had only given
me a sharp pinch through my thick coat.

An Irish peasant had settled on the Logan
river, having with great industry cleared some
hundreds of acres. He had three children, the
youngest of whom was about four years old,
and one of the loveliest little girls I ever saw.
I used often to alight and kiss the little creature,
she looked so rosy and fresh, and was kept so
clean and tidy. One morning she was romping
with her brother near the hut. All at once the
latter rushed in:

"Oh, mother, mother, Nelly's. been bitten by
a snake!"

It was too true. The marks of the reptile's
fangs were visible on the instep. They hurried
her within doors, and sucked the wound, but the
stupor of death lay heavy on her. There was
no medicine for many a mile, and no doctor.
They walked her about, as long as the little
limbs could stir, but at last they laid her down,
and, after one wild recognising flash from her
glazing eye into her mother's face, and with a
shuddering sob, the spirit of poor little Nelly
passed away.

On the Saturday succeeding this event the
government surveyor, who with his staff was
camped about seven miles from me, was
returning on foot to his camp accompanied by his
chairman. They were walking through long
grass, when on a sudden the chairman cried out:

"My God, sir, I'm bitten by something!"

"Run on to camp, then," said my friend.
"Fly, and I'll be after you with all the speed I
can. Scarify the place when you reach the camp."

I saw the government surveyor next day, and
he assured me that even as he spoke he saw the
man's eye glazing. When he arrived, he
found that the poor fellow had scarified his
own leg, but was dying fast. Two days
before this, the surveyor had been in Brisbane,
and had been entrusted with a bottle of excellent
cognac for me. A shower of rain had
prevented its transmission from his camp to
mine, and he now poured brandy down the
throat of the dying man. The poor fellow
was almost a teetotaller, and yet the bottle of
brandy had no more effect than so much
water. Meanwhile, the surveyor despatched a
man on a fleet horse to a neighbouring station
for more spirits, and, by the time the brandy
was exhausted, the messenger arrived with
a case-bottle of gin. In a few minutes the
patient began to show some liveliness, and to
talk with vivacity; but not until he had taken
the last drop of the gin did he exhibit the
slightest sign of inebriation. The instant that
he did show signs of it, the surveyor felt that
he was saved. The surveyor acted nobly. For
a whole hour he persisted in sucking the wound
of this poor man, whose leg was not over-clean.
When next day I saw the patient, he had quite
recovered.

The very best thing in the world for snake
bites is strong liquor ammoniae applied to the
wound, and a dilution of the same taken
internally. Next to this is a thorough internal
saturation by ardent spirits.

A medical gentleman, in conjunction with
myself, made experiments of the effects of snake
bites on rabbits. One rabbit, a magnificent
specimen, ate heartily after being bitten by a
diamond snake. We began to think that the
reptile must have expended his venom before
the trial, when all at once the rabbit, which was
eating a lettuce, uttered a squeak, and fell dead
without a quiver. This was about ten minutes
after the bite.

A friend of mine put a whip-snake into a
bottle, buried it between three and four feet in
the earth, and kept it there undisturbed during