A hooded snake (Naja haemachates), the imfezi of the natives, is dangerous, and spits or ejects its poison; besides this there are a few other varieties of the cobra species.
Of these, several poisonous species exist, including the cobra and karait (Naja tripudians and Bungarus caeruleus).
The snake, however, to which the word "asp" has been most commonly applied is undoubtedly the haje of Egypt, the spy-slange or spitting snake of the Boers (Naja haje), one of the very poisonous Elarinae, from 3 to 4 ft.