Whilst on a recce for the Assam expedition, JBS and a party were crossing a dry stream bed when they saw what appeared to be a black water pipe.  Suddenly it moved and they realised they were watching a huge King Cobra, the world’s largest venomous snake.  No one was keen to measure it but they estimated it to be 14 to 15 feet long.  The bulge in its body probably indicates it had just eaten another snake.  After some 15 minutes the reptile slid away in the bush.