THE SNAKE CHARMER DIES. 43 
the head turned on itself and the man was bitten! I was 
perfectly speechless, the scene had frozen my blood, and 
the wild shrieks of all those round rent the air. The ser- 
pent was loose and crawling on the ground, but before it 
had time to go far a long pole came down upon its back 
and broke its spine, and in less time than I take to write 
it down the monster was killed. 
To the French doctor who had charge of the little col- 
ony the man went (happily he was just at hand); all the 
remedies were prompt and powerful; the man suffered in- 
tensely, his body became swollen, his mind wandered, 
and his life was despaired of; but at last he got better, 
and though complaining of great pain near the heart, he 
was soon able to go out again. A short time after this 
accident, having an axe in his hand, going as he said to 
cut wood, he suddenly split his own head in two. He 
had become insane! 
