568 SNAKES. 



patrons, sometimes sends presents of game in the shape of 

 ring snakes to the Hamadryad. 



While watching this snake-eater over his dinner, one is 

 struck with the remarkable tenacity of life exhibited in the 

 victim, or the slow action of the venom if poisoned in 

 the first grasp. The Ophiophagus seizes it anywhere, that 

 is, at whichever part happens to come first, and then, after 

 holding it quietly for a time, works his jaws up to the 

 head in the usual hand-over-hand, or * jaw-after-jaw' fashion, 

 invariably swallowing the snake head first. On one 

 occasion when I watched attentively, Ophio, having seized 

 a ring snake by the middle, held it doggedly still for one 

 quarter of an hour, while the lesser snake did its very best 

 to work its way out of the jaws, and also to fetter his captor 

 by twirling itself over his head and coiling round his neck. 

 This continued while Ophio, with his head and neck raised, 

 remained motionless, and after the quarter of an hour com- 

 menced to work his jaws up towards the head of the ring 

 snake, which, as more and more of its own body was free for 

 action, twirled itself about, and at length coiled its tail 

 round the bit of branch nailed into the cage. 



Persistently, like a sailor making his vessel fast to the 

 windlass, the ring snake lashed as much of himself as was 

 free round the branch a foot off, and so pulled and pulled 

 till he looked in danger of severing himself in two. Mean- 

 while Ophio, slowly but surely advancing, caused its head and 

 neck to disappear, grasping tightly with his venomous jaws, 

 as if he would say, ' We'll see who is master.' It was a close 

 tussle, so firmly did the little coluber retain his hold on the 

 'tree;' but as the upper part of him was gradually drawn 



