76 THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
its body, and a third held it by the neck, opened its mouth and 
gently pushed lumps of raw meat down its gullet with the aid of 
a smooth, rounded stick. The second man meanwhile worked 
Fic. 34.— Feeding a Python at the Port Elizabeth Museum. This Snake is 16 feet in length. 
the meat down to the middle part of the snake. After about ten 
pounds of beef had been lodged in the snake’s stomach, a ligature 
was applied above the meat—that is, between the meat and the 
snake’s mouth. This was to prevent the snake disgorging the 
