Grootslang

The Grootslang or Grote Slang is a legendary cryptid that is reported to dwell in a deep cave in the Richtersveld,a mountainous desert region in northwestern South Africa. Grootslang is 20 to 39 tall with a head that's 7 inches wide. The skin is black with 

Legend:

According to legend, the Grootslang is a primordial creature as old as the world itself.When the Earth was evolved, the grootslangs were all apparently destroyed, but according to legend, some survived and retreated to the deepest caves of the Northern Cape province. Tales of enormous tusked snakes—probably inspired by real-life sightings of enormous pythons that live in the same area—have rumbled on in South African folklore ever since. Grootslang is claimed to devour elephants by luring them into its cave. The cave is known as the "Wonder Hole" or the "Bottomless Pit". Supposedly, it connects to the sea which is 40 miles away. According to local legend, the cave is filled with diamonds. It is also said to live in warm rivers and lakes

In Benin, it is said to be a huge elephant-like creature with a serpent's tail. Also according to the tale, Grootslangs covet gems, particularly diamonds, and despite the creatures' lust for cruelty, victims can often bargain for their freedom by offering a Grootslang enough precious gems. While searching for treasure in the richtersveld of South Africa in 1917, an English businessman Peter Grayson disappeared after members of his party were attacked and injured by lions, prompting legends that the Grootslang had killed him thereof.

Chronology:

A Nama rock painting on Cathedral Peak, Kwazulu-Natal Province, South Africa, depicts a great horned serpent called Koo-be-eng. Others appear in Brakfontein Cave near Koesberg; in the cave near Klein Aasvogelkop; and in the cave of the Great Black Serpent in Rockwood Glen, near the Upper Orange River. In 1867, Hans Sauer saw a large, black snake in the Orange River near Aliwal North, Eastern Cape Province.

In 1899, merchant G. A. Kinnear was crossing the Orange River near Upington, Northern Cape Province, when he saw the head of a monstrous serpent emerging from the water. In 1910, Frederick C. Cornell was camping about twenty miles from Augrabiesvalle, Northern Cape Province, with two companions, one an American named Kammerer, who was bathing in a pool nearby. Suddenly, Kammerer came back shouting and said that a great wave had come up behind him and that a head with massive jaws belonging to a giant snake had risen twelve feet in the air.

In May 1920, at the confluence of the Great Fish and Orange Rivers, Frederick C. Cornell and others in his party saw the head and neck of a large snake swimming in the water.John Clift saw a 20-foot crocodilian emerge from the Big Hole, an abandoned mine crater near Kimberley, Northern Cape Province, in November 1947.

In November 1963, newspapers started reporting various encounters with a water monster in the Vaal Dam, Free State Province. Most of the reports were vague. Stanley Jacob and his father, David, watched a monster surface 110 yards from their boat, near Oranjeville on February sixteen, 1964. At first, it looked like a swimming horse. They went to fetch a gun, then returned. The animal had grayish-brown skin, smoother than a hippo’s.