We Were Very Near The Camp, And The
Dog Crept Home Slowly At My Heels.
Upon examination there was no doubt
of the cause; Shot had wounds of a snake's fangs upon his lip, under the
eye, and upon one ear; he must have been the first bitten, as he had
evidently received the greatest discharge of poison.
Merry was bitten in
the mouth and in one ear, both of which were already swollen, but not to
the same degree as Shot, who, within an hour, had a head as large as a
small calf's, and his eyes were completely closed. I had not the
slightest hope of his recovery, as his throat had swollen to an enormous
size, which threatened suffocation. I could do nothing for the poor dogs
but oil their mouths, although knew that the poison would assuredly
spread throughout the system. The dogs had been bitten at about 3.40
P.M. At 8 P.M. (our dinner-hour) Shot was a shapeless mass, and his
limbs were stiff; the skin of his throat and fore-part of his body
beneath his curly white and liver-coloured hair was perfectly black; his
jowl, which now hung three inches below his jaws, was also inky black,
as were his swollen tongue and palate. Merry's head and throat were
swollen badly, and he lay by the blazing fire of logs half stupefied and
devoid of observation.
On the following morning Shot was evidently dying; he did not appear to
suffer pain, but was in a state of coma and swelled to such a degree
that he resembled the skin of an animal that had been badly stuffed with
hay. Merry was worse than on the preceding night, and lay in a state of
stupor. I carried him to the sea and dipped him several times beneath
the water; this appeared slightly to revive him, and he was placed in a
large saddle-bag to be carried on a mule for the day's march. Shot had
been quite unconscious, and when the men prepared an animal to carry
him, it was found that he was already dead. This was a little after 8
A.M., and he had been bitten at about 3.40 P. M.: about 16 and a half
hours had elapsed. My men dug a grave and buried the poor animal, who
had been a faithful dog and an excellent retriever. From Merry's
appearance I expected that we should have to attend to his remains in
the same manner before the evening.
Snakes are very numerous in Cyprus, but I cannot believe in any great
danger if these generally hated creatures should be avoided. If dogs
will insist upon hunting and attacking them, they must be bitten as a
natural consequence; in this fatal case there can be no doubt that the
dog Shot was the first to discover and attack the snake, and Merry, upon
hearing him bark, joined in the fight. It is quite unnatural for any of
the serpent tribe to attack, except for the purpose of devouring their
natural prey. As a general rule, the food of snakes consists of rats,
mice, frogs, or toads, beetles, and other insects; the pythons and
larger serpents feed upon such animals as hares, birds, and the young of
either antelopes, deer, pigs, &c. Although a snake if trodden upon might
by a spasmodic impulse inflict a bite, it would nine times out of ten
endeavour to escape. The idea of any snake wilfully and maliciously
premeditating an attack upon a man is quite out of the question, unless
it has been either teased or excited by a dog when hunting. The same
principle will hold good in the case of animals. No snake that feeds
only upon rats, mice, and such small animals would seek to attack a dog,
or any creature that was not its natural prey, and the actual danger
from such reptiles is quite insignificant. The stories that are
circulated of accidents are mostly exaggerated, or are perpetuated by
constant repetition. I have been in snake countries such as Ceylon and
Africa during many years, the greater portion of which has been passed
in practical explorations, and I can safely say that I never thought of
snakes until they met my eye, and no person that I ever knew was killed
by a poisonous bite. In Cyprus there are several varieties. I have only
seen three, a black species which is harmless, a mottled variety also
non-poisonous, and a grey snake that is supposed to be deadly; there may
be more, but I have never met with them. The stony nature of the
country, and the bush-covered surface of the hills, together with the
dryness of the climate, are all favourable to the development of snakes
and lizards. The latter are exceedingly numerous, and are most valuable
destroyers of insects; there are several varieties, but the most common
is the bright copper-coloured species with a smooth skin. The chameleon
also exists.
Although we had never taken the presence of snakes into serious
consideration, the horrible effect of the bite upon the dogs made every
one on the alert during the march over the rocky and bushy country from
our camp to Evdimu. Our guide scorned a beaten track, and after having
kept the regular path along the sea-coast for a mile, he struck
directly up the mountain, which descended in a steep cliff to the shore,
against which the waves dashed with violence. The country was
exceedingly wild for some miles as we ascended through bush of young
pines, dwarf-cypress, and mastic, occasionally passing pines of larger
growth, which had, as usual, been mutilated. We moved partridges in
several places, but these were old birds packed in considerable numbers:
a bad sign at this season, when they should have been sitting upon eggs.
At an elevation of about 1000 feet above the sea we came upon a park of
caroub-trees, in which was a spring of water; large flocks of goats and
cattle, together with many mules and horses, were roaming through this
verdant district, which afforded abundant pasturage in the shape of wild
artichokes, a variety of succulent thistles, and many plants suitable to
the native animals in the absence of actual grasses.
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