308 BVItMA, ITS PEOPLE AMj PRODCCTIOXS. 



The gall-bladtler of the python is much valiiod by tlic Karens for medicine, and 

 Dr. 5[ason writes : " The Karens have an apophtliej^in that the hirf^est python can 

 swallow a fnll-<;rown buck rusa or 'sarabur' deer, horns and all, without inconvenience. 

 According to a Karen lep;cnd, all tl\c poisonous serpents di rive their virulence from 

 the python, which, though innocuous now, was originally tlie only one that was 

 venomous. In those days he was perfectly white, but having seduced away a man's 

 wife, aunt Eu (Eve), he made her, while she was in his den, weave figures on his 

 skin in the forms which are now seen. At that time if he bit the footstep of a Tuan 

 in the road, such was the virulence of his poison that the man died, how far soever that 

 man might have passed from the bitten track. The python had not, however, an 

 ocular demonstration of the fact, so lie said to the crow, ' Crow, go and see whether 

 people die, or not, when I bite the foot-track.' The crow went to the neighbourhood 

 of a Karen cabin, and found the people, as is their custom at funerals, laughing, 

 singing, dancing, jumping, and beating drums. He therefore returned to the python, 

 and told him that so far from his efforts producing death, on the contrary, they 

 produced joy. The python was so angry when ho heard this, that he ascended a 

 tree and spit up all his venom, hut other creeping things came and swallowed it, and 

 people die of their malig-nancy to this day. The tree, however, from which the 

 python spit up his venom became deadly, and its juice is used to this day for the 

 purpose of poisoning arrows. The python made the other creatures promise not to 

 bite without provocation. The cobra said, ' If there be transgression so as to dazzle 

 my eyes, to make my tears fall seven times in one day, I will bite.' So said the tiger 

 (whose bite the Karens esteem as virulent as a serpent's) and others, and they were 

 allowed to retain their poison. But the water-snake and frog said they would bite 

 with or without cause, as they liked ; so the pytlion drove them into the water, where 

 theii- poison melted away and their bite became harmless." 



According to Karen testimony, the female ])ythou inculcates her eggs, covering 

 both herself and them with leaves, in which she is assisted by the male, who remains 

 on guard in the neighbourhood. Dr. Mason also says those snakes are occasionally 

 killed by pigs ; but this assertion would seem to re(juire veritication. The rarity of 

 large-sized pythons is somewhat remarkable, consideriug the few enemies they have 

 capable of coping with and destroying them. These creatures destroy their prey by 

 suffocation. A rapid dart is made at the animal, and in an instant two or three coils 

 of the snake's body are thrown round it. These coils are gradually tightened, so as to 

 stop the breathing, and the animal dies suffocated in a few minutes. In the case of a 

 large lizard, the time is longer, as these animals are more tenacious of life than a bird 

 or mammal. When dead, the snake releases its victim from its folds, and takes the 

 head into its mouth, gradually drawing itself over its pi-ey. I have never heard of 

 a case of a human being having been devoured, but no doubt such a thing is possible 

 in the ease of a largo python. The flesh is much esteemed by the Karens as food. 



YENOMOUS SNAKES. 



Ftimili/ Elapidse. 



A poison fang present. No loreal shield. Pupil round. 



Naja, Laurenti. 



Scales smooth, in 15 rows, on body; more numerous on the neck, which is more 

 or less dilatable. 



N. TRipuDiANs, Morr. 



Scales smooth, in 15 rows. Neck dilated into a hood, which is ornamented either 

 by a 'spectacle' mark or an oval, the latter being the commoner form in Burma. 

 Colour varies, pale yellowish or stone colour, pale brown, dark brown or black. 

 Grows to 70 inches. 



Inhabits the whole of India and Burma. 



