The Greenbottles 



ered and strained through the skin. This 

 would explain the need for provisions lique- 

 fied beforehand. 



Let us give one last proof of this prelimi- 

 nary liquefaction. If the carcass — Mole, 

 Snake or another — left in the open air have 

 a wire-gauze cover placed over it, to keep out 

 the Flies, the game dries under a hot sun and 

 shrivels up without appreciably wetting the 

 sand on which it lies. Fluids come from it, 

 certainly, for every organized body is a 

 sponge swollen with water; but the liquid 

 discharge is so slow and restricted in quantity 

 that the heat and the dryness of the air di- 

 sperse it as it appears, while the underlying 

 sand remains dry, or very nearly so. The car- 

 cass becomes a sapless mummy, a mere bit of 

 leather. On the other hand, do not use the 

 wire-gauze cover, let the Flies do their work 

 unimpeded; and things forthwith assume an- 

 other aspect. In three or four days, an ooz- 

 ing sanies appears under the animal and soaks 

 the sand to some distance. 



I shall never forget the striking spectacle 

 with which I conclude this chapter. This 

 time, the dish is a magnificent iEsculapius' 

 Snake, a yard and a half long and as thick as 

 a wide bottle-neck. Because of its size, which 

 231 



