i-yya. Oft ite viper T */ 



from water, the man that found them stood b_v 

 them lest they iliould go av/ay among the grafs, and 

 so lose sight of them, until another young man came 

 in sight, whom he called to him, that he might fetch 

 something to carry them home in, that they might 

 be seen before they were destroyed. He came and 

 told me, and I willingly went along with him, and 

 found them all marching forward in a determinate 

 order upon the roud. 



What took my attention most, was their order of 

 marching ;; — they kept so close together that they very 

 much resembled the Ihape of a large adder, being 

 smaller at the head, and thicker in the middle, from 

 thence tapering all the way to the other end. 



They moved straight forward: the aggregate bony 

 was about one incli broad in their ranks at tlie head, one 

 inch and one half in the middle, from thence smaller to 

 the tail. They v/ere about sixteen inches in length, 

 and I think they would be about three quarters of an 

 inch in depth, so that there was a great many crecp^. 

 in<T one above another, somewhat resembling a swarm 

 of bees going up into the hive. I likewise observed 

 when they met with any obstruction, such as a small 

 stone, that they would all turn to one side of it ; or 

 if they divided their course they joined again as soon 

 as they were past the cause of it. There seemed to 

 Be some wettifh stufF amongst them ; for when I se- 

 parated a few from the main body, the dust stuck to 

 ihem, and they could not creep but with great difii- 

 culty ; however, they seemed to guard againit that 

 by kee^)ing so closely together. 



