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REPTILIA AND BATRACHIA.
A p a r t from the Python, of which I only heard accounts, the
largest reptile I met in the Transvaal was the Monitor (Vara-
nus niloticus), which was not uncommon on the banks of the
spruits (see ante, p. 87). Another very common Lizard was
Agama hispida, of which I have found four or five under a
single stone; it runs about the bare veld and is easily caught.
The most interesting species is Mabuia trivittata, which inhabits
holes in hanks in company with Toads, and, as already
described, basks in the sun at the entrance to its hole, with its
legs arranged close by the side of its body, which is curled up
like a Snake, which the Lizard then much resembles (ante, p. 87).
The Puff-Adder (Vipera arietans) I only found twice, and,
strange to say, the two specimens were met with, at an interval
of a fortnight, on exactly the same spot in a pathway at the foot
of a cliff; on each occasion I nearly trod upon the reptile, which
was basking in the dust under the midday sun. In walking
through the high grass of the warm lowlands of Zoutpansberg
one is frequently warned to he careful of Snakes; but in these
excursions I only saw one individual, which was about six feet
long, and sought refuge amidst some large blocks of quartzite
before I could obtain a shot at it.
As the warm rainy season advances the silence of the veld
(wherever accumulations of water are found) is broken by the
croakings of Batrachians, and the hoarse bellow of the huge
Rana adspersa makes the night hideous to those who live in
the vicinity of the haunts of this handsome frog.
I have placed my small collection among the treasures in the
British Museum, and that excellent authority, Mr. G. A.
Boul'enger, has contributed the following enumeration and
notes, and described a new species of Snake which I found
near Pretoria.