400 A VOYAGE TO Book VI. 



tastroplic. These particulars, if thoroughly consi- 

 dered, seem mere fables : as indeed the learned M. 

 de la Condaniine intimates ; and the very circum- 

 stances with which they are decorated, increase their 

 improbability. 



But, in my opinion, with a little alteration in the 

 circumstances, what seems to shock credibility, will 

 appear natural and founded on truth. 



That its breath is of such a quality as to pro- 

 duce a kind of inebriation in those whom it reaches, 

 is far from being impossible; the urine of the fox is 

 well known to have the same effect ; and the breath 

 of the whale is frequently attended with such an in- 

 supportable foctor as to bring on a disorder in the 

 brain. I therefore see no manner of difficulty in ad- 

 mitting that the breath of this serpent may be of that 

 intoxicatingquality attributed to it; and maybe con- 

 sidered as an expedient for catching its prey, as other- 

 %vise the creature, from tlie slow movement of its 

 body, would be utterly incapable of providing itself 

 ivith food ; whereas, by this deleterious smell, the 

 animal maybe thrown i uto such horror and perplexity, 

 as to be unable to move, but remain fixed like a. 

 statue, or faint away, whilst the snake gradually ap- 

 proaches and seizes it. As to what is related of cut- 

 ting the breath, and that the danger is limited to the 

 direction in which the serpent breathes ; these arc 

 tales, which to believe, would imply an utter igno- 

 rance of the origin and progress of odours. In short, 

 the vulgar errors, propagated by these rude nations, 

 have gained credit among the i?paniards, merely be- 

 cause none has had the curiosity or resolution to put 

 them to the test of experience. 



CHAP, 



