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80 "Let us go at once," I said.

She put me down, and we left the cave together.

Outside, in the large cave, we found all the fungi gatherers waiting.

Sending some of them on to light the way, we set out for the cave of serpents, as they called it. Following the same passage we came by, and crossing the crevices, we found ourselves amongst the fungi.

The snakes were very numerous, and before we had arrived at the large beds, one of the creatures in front gave a cry and fell down. We went up to it, and found it had been bitten; in a few minutes it was dead. They tied some stones to it, and dropped it into a pool as they had done with the others, and then started to fill their nets.

I was stooping down to pick a fungus, when a snake, lying near, threw itself against my hand and buried its fangs in the palm. I uttered a piercing shriek, which brought them all round me. Each moment I expected to die. The screams of the white female led me to believe that she had also been bitten.

She caught hold of my hand, and seeing where the fangs had penetrated, put her mouth to the wound and commenced to suck it.

The others stood round in silence.

Much to my surprise, the bite had no effect on