162 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQUATOR. 
Nearer and nearer the squirrel came; louder and loud- 
er were his chipperings; he tried to run away, but could 
not. At last he came within a foot of the snake. There 
was a pause; then suddenly, like a flash of lightning, the 
snake sprung: the poor little squirrel was in the folds of 
the ugly reptile, and soon I saw his body gradually disap- 
pearing into its inflated mouth, and the broken silence of 
the forest resumed its sway, 
