Almost, if not quite as poisonous as the Indian cobra, is the rattlesnake of America, and, again, the puff-adder of Africa. However, I am not writing a book about snakes, so as space obliges me to finish this chapter, I will only add that I once walked right over a puff-adder without stepping on it, and consequently without its biting me. If it had done so it would have saved me a great deal of worry and trouble—as is usual in such cases—for I was alone on the top of a very steep hill, and the homestead lay a long way off at the bottom. The brandy-bottle, therefore—which is the colonial remedy for being bitten, as well as for not being bitten, by a puff-adder—would not have been forthcoming, and I had no snake-stone in my pocket. CHAPTER XXIV HUNTING RUSES AMONGST THE HIGHER ANIMALS—WOLVES, FOXES, AND JACKALS—UNTEMPERED JUSTICE—GESTURE-LANGUAGE IN MEN AND DOGS—THE CAPE HUNTING-DOG AND HIS PREY. In several of the preceding chapters we have seen something of the stratagems and contrivances made use of by various creatures—fish, insects, birds, or crustaceans—in order to secure their prey. Similar devices, as might be expected, are not unknown amongst the mammalia also. The list, however, is not so long as one might expect, considering the superior intelligence of this class of animals, but we must remember that it is not so easy to study the habits of wild quadrupeds as it is those of insects and various small creatures. It is principally with wolves, foxes, and jackals that the observations in question have been made, no doubt because such animals, owing to their abundance, or through other reasons, have come more into contact with mankind.