SNAKE YARNS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 144, 19 June 1926, Page 32

SNAKE YARNS.

j (By CAPTAIN* lAX McLAREN, in the i "Dally Mall.'") I ! Snake yarns are not necessarily about snakes. The term is merely the African I equivalent of the English "tall story." ' True, .there are plenty of genuine snake i yarns. I remember once, when on a shooting expedition In the Transvaal, meeting three Australians whose hobby it was to catch poisonous snakes by the back of the neck. They then waggled a glass container in front of the reptile, rousing it to fury and causing it to bite again and again, leaving each time a drop of poison |on the glass. This poison commands a high price among chemicals, and the Australians made a tidy sum out of their hobby. But it was a most bloodcurdling operation i to watch. The sudden pounce on the snake, ! the teasing It to frenzy, and then, when Its poison gland was exhausted, the quick ; shifting of grip from neck to the tail, and ; the cracking of it, like a whip lash, to i break its neck, make my blood run cold | even now. That is a story about snakes; here, however, is a "snake yarn" In the true —or perhaps I had better say "untrue"—sense of the term. ; It is told of an old Dutchman who lived in Pietersburg. It was his delight to waylay shooting parties in the bar or on the verandah of their hotel, and regale them with marvellous tales of the hunting exploits of his youth. His aim, of course, was liquid refreshment. I He spoke in a mixture of South African Dutch, Kaffir, and English, and his most famous tale—translated—ran like this :— "Lions in the Bush veld? Let mc tell you. Once I was camped near by Leydsdorp. I had a splendid wagon in those days, drawn by right span (pair) of donkeys. I was sitting by the fire when I noticed great eyes gazing at mc out of the darkness. I looked around; there was a ring of ryes surrounding me —lions, thousands of* them. I got my rifle; I fired again and again at those eyes. Lion after lion fell dead ; I counted eightyseven. But others took their places, and the ring drew closer and closer. My ammunition was running short, so I decided we had better go. In the pitch darkness we had great trouble ipspanning I (harnessing) the donkeys, who were plung- | Ing and rearing- with terror. I "I shot a lane through the herds of lions and we set off. Never have I known donkeys go so fast. Three miles an hour is their usual speed; these were doing j thirty ! Like racehorses they were,, and I the great wagon bounded along like a flreI engine. I "Hour after hour they kept up this I breakneck speed, and I could not understand It at all, for the lions had not folj lowed us and the donkeys' terror should ' have subsided long ere this. I was more i frightened clinging to that swaying wagon I than I had been among the lions. ! "Then, at last, the dawn came, and I i saw the reason for it a:;. [ "Would you believe it, gentlemen?" here 1 the old rascal struck an attitude, "would you believe it? I'd got two of those Uona inspanned with the donkeys. !"