188 OPHIDIA. — BOAD.E. 



It is a native of the island of Java, and of tlie 

 Indian peninsulas. 



The ground-colour of the head of this Serpent 

 is a greyish fawn, that of the body yellowish, of 

 the sides greyish white ; the under parts pale 

 yellowish. A series of large spots of dark brown 

 with a black margin runs down the back ; they are 

 of an irregular form, but somewhat square : there 

 are smaller ones on the sides, which often have 

 open disks. On the hind-head and nape is a large 

 brown spot, somewhat like a spear -head, divided 

 lengthwise by a pale line ; a brown band runs off 

 behind each eye. The shields of the belly are 

 about two hundred and fifty, those of the tail 

 from sixty to seventy pairs. 



The Boas are oviparous; laying a number of 

 eggs in holes in the soil, beneath decaying leaves, 

 in crevices of the roots of trees, and in similar 

 situations. At certain seasons of the year great 

 numbers are said to congregate together and twdst 

 themselves into immense knots or contorted coils. 

 This is at least true of the Yellow Snake of 

 Jamaica {Chilabothrus inornatus), and the negroes 

 and Creoles declare that these reunions are con- 

 nected with the reproduction of the species. But 

 the individuals that thus collect, though nume- 

 rous, are not to be compared with the convoluted 

 host that the celebrated Humboldt once saw 

 in South America. Their association he attri- 

 butes, indeed, to a very different motive ; but we 

 are inclined to believe that he has quite misin- 

 terpreted the phenomenon. 



" In the savannahs of Izacubo, in Guiana, I 

 saw the most wonderful, the most terrible spec- 

 tacle that can be seen ; and although it is not 



