FOREIGN AND mSCELLANEOUS NOTICES. 



nessing the test of its virtues. Among the 

 slaves of the i)lace there was one noted as a 

 skilful snake-doctur ; andaslenjoy theacijuain- 

 tance of his master, I was not long iu obtaining 

 a promise that my curiosity should be gratified. 

 A few days after the negro entered my room, 

 carrying in his hands a pair of coral-snakes, of 

 that species known as the most beautiful and 

 venomous. The negro's hands and arms were 

 comjiletely naked ; and he manipulated the 

 reptiles, turning them about, and twisting them 

 over liis wiists with the greatest apparant con- 

 fidence. I was for a while under the suspicion 

 that their fangs had been previously drawn; 

 but I soon found that I had been mistaken. The 

 man convinced me of this by opening the mouths 

 of both, and showing me the interior. There, 

 sure enough, were both teeth and fiings in their 

 perfect state ; and yet the animals did not make 

 the least attempt to use them. On the con- 

 trary, they seemed to exhibit no anger, although 

 the negro handled them roughly. They appear- 

 ed perfectly innocuous, and rather afraid of him 

 I thought. 



Determined to assure myi5elf beyond the 

 shadow of a doubt, I ordered a large mastiff to 

 be brought into the room and jtlaced so that 

 the snakes could reach him. The dog was suf- 

 ficiently frightened, but being tied he could not 

 retreat ; and after a short while one of the ser- 

 pents " struck," and bit him on tlie back of the 

 neck. The dog was now set loose, but did not 

 at first appear to notice the wound he had re- 

 ceived. In two or three minutes, however, he 

 began to limp and howl most fearfully. In five 

 minutes more he fell, and struggled over the 

 ground in violent convulsions, similar to those 

 occasioned by hydrophobia. Blood and viscous 

 matter gushed from his mouth and nostrils, and 

 at the end of a quarter of an hour by the watch 

 he was dead. 



Witnessing all this, I became extremely de- 

 sirous of possessing the important secret — which 

 by the way, was not then so generally known. 

 I offered a good round sum; and the negro, 

 promising to meet my wishes, took his depar- 

 ture. 



On the following day he returned, bringing 

 with him a handful of heart shaped leaves, 

 which I recognised as those of the bejuco de 

 guaco, or snake-plant. These he placed in a 

 bowl, having first crushed them between two 

 stones. He next poured a little water into the 

 vessel. In a few minutes maceration took i)lace, 

 and the " tea" was ready. I was instructed to 

 swallow two small spoonfuls of it, which I did. 

 The negro then made three incisions in each of 

 my hands at the forking of my fingers, and three 

 similar ones on each foot between the toes. 

 Through these he inoculated me with the ex- 

 tract of the guaco. He next punctured my 

 breast, both on the riglit and left side, and per- 

 formed a similar inoculation. I was now ready 

 snakes, several of which, both of the 

 and cascabel species, the negro had brought 

 ith him. 



"With all my wish to become a snake-charmer, 

 I must confess that at sight of the hideous rep. 

 tiles I felt my courage oozing through my nails. 

 The negro, however, continued to assure me; 

 and as I took great pains to convince him that 

 my death would cost him his life, and I saw that 

 he still entreated me to go ahead, I came at 

 length to the determination to run the risk. 

 With a somewhat shaky hand I took up one of 

 the corals, and passed it delicately through my 

 fingers. AH right. The animal showed no dis- 

 position to bite, but twisted itself through my 

 hands, apparently cowering and frightened. I 

 soon grew bolder, and took up another and 

 another, until I had three of the reptiles in my 

 grasp at one time. I then put them down and 

 caught a snake of the ca.scabel species — the rat- 

 tlesnake of the north. This fellow behaved in 

 a more lively manner, but did not show any 

 symptoms of irritation. After I had handled 

 the reptile for some minutes, I was holding it 

 near the middle, when to my horror, I saw it 

 suddenly elevate its head, and strike at my left 

 arm! I felt that I was bitten, and flinging the 

 snake from me, I turned to my companion with 

 a shudder of despair. The negro, who with 

 his arms folded had stood all the while calmly 

 looking on, now answered my quick and terri- 

 fied inquiries with repeated assurances that there 

 was no danger whatever, and that nothing serious 

 would result from the bite. This he did with 

 as much coolness and composure as if it had 

 been only the sting of a mosquito. I was more 

 comforted by the manner of my companion than 

 by his words ; but to make assurance doubly 

 sure, I took a fresh sup of the guaco tea, and 

 waited tremblingly the result. A slight inflam. 

 matory swelling soon appeared about the orifice 

 of the wound, but at the expiration of a few 

 hours it had completely subsided, and I felt that 

 I was all right again. 



On many occasions afterwards I repeated the 

 experiment of handling serpents I had myself 

 taken in the woods, and some of them of the 

 most poisonous species. On these occasions I 

 adopted no further precaution than to swallow 

 a dose of the guaco sap, and even chewing the 

 leaves of the plant itself was sufficient. This 

 precaution is also taken by those — such ashunt- 

 ers and wood-choppers — whose calling carries 

 them into the thick jungle of the southern 

 forest, where dangerous reptiles abound. 



The guaco has no doubt saved many a life. 

 The tradition which the Indians relate of the 

 discovery of its virtues is interesting. It is as 

 follows: In the tierras calientes there is a b'rd 

 of the kite species — a gavilan, whose food con- 

 sists principally of ser[)ents. When in search 

 of its victims, the bird utters a loud but mono- 

 tonous note, which sounds like the word gwa-co 

 slowly pronounced. The Indians allege that 

 this note is for the purpose of calling to it the 

 snakes, over whom it ])ossesses a mysterious 

 power, that summons them forth from 

 liiding-places. This of course is pure su 

 tion, but what follows may nevertheless be 



