SNAKES AND BLOODSUCKERS 



heard of their becoming the prey of these creatures. I have a pro- 

 found conviction that a man will not be attacked by other living 

 creatures as long as he himself leaves them undisturbed." 

 So says the Hindu sage : let us learn of him ! 



Many fairy-tales have been told of the dangerous character of the 

 great Pythons. 



It is, of course, generally realized that the larger serpents are not 

 venomous, but many of us have read with a shudder how the long 

 body of the Boa constrictor suddenly winds itself round the traveller 

 in the forest, and how its coils draw closer and closer together until 

 finally his bones begin to break. 



A reasonable man ought to ask himself with what possible object 

 a snake would break a man's bones? A snake overpowers only such 

 creatures as it can eat, and no snake has yet ever swallowed a man. 

 The Stories of gigantic serpents that coil themselves about human 

 beings must be relegated to the region of fables. 



In addition to a few rarer species, Brazil possesses two giant 

 snakes. One of these is the Sucury or Anaconda. This is one of 

 the largest snakes in the world; specimens have been measured 

 which were 24 feet in length, and I saw a very large Sucury in 

 the zoological gardens of Rio. The Sucury is a water-snake, and 

 is helpless on the land. The Amazon is its favourite haunt, but it 

 has become rarer even there by reason of constant persecution, for 

 very few men can bring themselves to allow their boat to pass a 

 snake resting on an overhanging bough without firing at the reptile. 



The other giant snake, the Giboya, Cobra do veado or Boa 

 constrictor (Plate 31, i), is a terrestrial reptile. I have often come 

 across this snake, though the specimens which I encountered 

 were not fully grown. The adult boa is as a rule about 13 feet in 

 length. Once we found a boa on the windowsiU of the sacristy of 

 the deserted monastery at Monte (Plate 19). I induced him to creep 

 into a large box, and delightedly took him home with me. During 

 the rest of my stay in the monastery the snake lived in my room, 

 and became quite tame, so that I found it hard to part with him. 



Such a Giboya is a magnificent reptile. I was never tired of ad- 

 miring the rich and deHcate pattern of his skin — a pattern of spots 

 and chains in various shades of reddish or blackish brown, upon a 

 background of grey, brown and yellow. The tail in particular, 

 brown, yellow, and almost blood-red, glowed with colour, and the 



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