The mountainous island of São Tomé lies in the Gulf of Guinea off the west coast of Africa, almost bang on the Equator. Near the centre of the island, which is about 30 miles long and 20 miles wide, is a dormant volcano that is covered in dense forest. Nobody knows when the volcano last erupted and nobody is expecting any action of that kind in the foreseeable future.
Of far more interest is the island’s wildlife, and in
particular the cobra-preta. This is a black snake – which is exactly how the
name translates from Portuguese – that is believed to be the most venomous
snake in Africa. The locals on São Tomé say “homem mordido, homem perdido”,
which means “man bitten, man lost”.
It is known that the snake lives in the forests of São Tomé,
but the question is – how did it get there? Is it simply a local variant of the
forest cobra of West Africa? One theory is that the early Portuguese colonists
introduced it to the island to get rid of the rats that the settlers had
inadvertently brought with them. However, it seems strange that anyone would
want to live on an island to which they had deliberately brought Africa’s most
dangerous snake.
That was why the experts preferred to take the line that the
cobra-preta was a species native to São Tomé. The island does not have many
species that are identical with those on the mainland, given the difficulty
that animals would have faced in crossing nearly 200 miles of ocean, and the
fact that humans did not apparently reach it prior to the Portuguese in the 15th
century. São Tomé has several species that are found nowhere else in the world,
having evolved in far distant times, so why should the cobra-preta not be one
of these?
It was the realization that the cobra-preta was not an
introduced species but a native one that saved it. Moves had been underway to
eradicate the snake, which clearly presented a danger to the local population,
but were it to be lost it would be yet another casualty on the list of species
rendered extinct by human hand.
But if the cobra-preta was to be preserved it had to be
studied, with specimens captured not least so that its DNA could be examined
and its true place on the evolutionary tree determined. This is in addition to
the many other reasons why naturalists would want to take a close look at what
is essentially a “new” species.
That was why a scientific team assembled at the foot of São
Tomé’s former volcano one day a few years ago. The upper mountain slopes were
known to be home to the cobra-preta, but it had also been seen lower down. The
team members would need to be alert every step of the way.
The party consisted of six people - three scientists and
three assistants, including a local guide. On the night before, the guide had
told the party all the stories he knew about the cobra-preta, including the
charming legend, dating from 1506, that when a man was bitten by the snake the
effect was so sudden and so terrible that his eyes would explode out of his
head as he died. They all laughed nervously at that one!
Jake was the assistant on the expedition who was responsible
for making sure that all the kit they needed was in place and worked as it
should. This included not only the cage in which they would place their
specimen, and the tools for grabbing it behind the head and securing it before
it could get a chance to strike at anyone, but also the heavy-duty trousers,
jackets and gloves that they would need to wear in order to prevent any chance
of a bite, as well as providing protection against soldier ants and other creepy-crawlies.
Given the hot, steamy conditions of the equatorial forest, this sort of
clothing was not particularly comfortable to wear, but they all knew that it
was essential. One thing that Jake could not provide was anti-serum to counter
the bite of the cobra-preta, given that such a thing did not exist.
There had been heavy rain for several days prior to the
expedition, and they set off up the steep, zig-zagging mountain track in what
they hoped would be a long enough interval of relative dryness. That turned out
to be a forlorn hope, because two hours after they set out the rain came back
in torrents.
The path, which was wet enough to start with, was soon
several inches deep in mud, making every step a struggle. It was even worse for
Jake, loaded down with his bulky kit, who found that his footsteps made such
large holes in the mud that it was a real effort to get his feet out again. He
was soon at the back of the party, with the others able to make slightly faster
progress.
As the rain poured down the slope it began to run across
their zigzag path, with walls of water cascading on top of them from the side
as they walked. But then things got even worse because the water turned to mud
and it carried tree branches and rocks with it. The upper slope of the mountain
simply gave way and a full-scale mudslide crashed down on top of them.
Everyone in front of Jake stood no chance and was simply
buried in the mud and carried off down the slope. Jake was lucky in that he was
only caught by the edge of the mudslide, knocked off his feet and taken a short
way down the mountain. He tried to stand, but before he could do so a torn-off
tree branch landed on him and pinned him to the ground. He was knocked
unconscious and lay still as the bulk of the mudslide passed close by, taking
all his companions with it.
When Jake came round he found himself lying on a patch of level
ground with undergrowth on one side that had escaped the mudslide. The rainstorm
was over and the mud had stopped sliding. He called out but there was no reply
apart from the cries of jungle birds.
He soon saw that his right arm and foot were trapped under
the branch that fallen on top of him. There was a way of freeing his arm, but
only if he could get out of his protective jacket, which had been partly torn
open anyway. Once this was achieved he could tackle his foot, and the easiest
way of doing this was to ease the foot out of itsboot, the toe of which was
firmly wedged under the branch. This took some time but was eventually done,
with his thick sock staying inside the boot.
So now he was able to stand, with one foot booted and the
other bare, and take stock of his surroundings. He caught a movement in the
bush to the side of the open space. He took another look. Something black was
moving through the undergrowth. It emerged, and a thin black face looked him
straight in the eye. A forked tongue flicked out in his direction.
There could be no doubt about it. He had found a
cobra-preta. But instead of being equipped with a grabbing pole and a cage he
had nothing with which to protect himself. He had jettisoned his protective jacket
and had one bare foot.
He took an involuntary step backwards. His unbooted foot
touched something on the ground that was soft to the touch. He looked down, and
a human eye looked straight back at him.
© John Welford
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