386 TEINIDAD. 





even pursue, its enemy. This serpent generally warns by a 

 peculiar rattling sound, caused by the rapid movements of its 

 tail — probably against the dry leaves, as it has no articulated 

 rattle, like that of the Crotalus horridus, but only a white horny 

 spur, and may be considered as establishing a link between the 

 trigonocephalus and the crotalus. The mapepire is much more 

 dreaded than the cascabel. Though very sluggish, this latter 

 serpent shows occasionally much determination, and after in- 

 flicting a first wound, it sometimes immediately recoils for 

 another attack. The ground-colour of the cascabel is brown, 

 with deep transversal stripes ; the belly has a tesselated appear- 

 ance, black squares symmetrically alternating with others of a 

 lighter colour. 



I may repeat here, what Prince de Neuwied says of the coral 

 snake — that it can be taken and handled without any danger, 

 children very often playing with this viper, encircling it round 

 the neck. I have myself, more than once, carried about corals, 

 not suspecting they were venomous. The apparent innocuity 

 of the coral arises from the peculiar conformation of its head and 

 mouth ; the head is of the same growth with the body, and not 

 separated by a distinct neck ; nor can it, on account of its 

 anatomical organisation, open its jaws sufficiently to seize and 

 bite any bulky body. It is nevertheless highly poisonous. The 

 clibo and rigoise are very common ; of the former, there are 

 three species or varieties — the black or speckled, the yellow- 

 bellied, and the yellow-tailed ; the first is of a glossy lead colour, 

 and the under parts of a light yellow, with dark stripes ; the 

 second, of a deep lead colour above, and a fine yellow beneath ; 

 the body of the third is also of a lead colour, and the belly, 

 together with the tail, of an orange tinge ; they generally attain 

 the same dimensions, though the last may be found of a some- 

 what larger size. 



The rigoise, or whip-snake, would appear to pertain to the 

 tribe of poisonous serpents, but its bite would not be deadly ; it 

 is called rigoise or korse-wMp, not only on account of its long 

 slender form, but also from the current belief among the negroes 

 that it uses its tail as an instrument for flogging its antagonist. 



Besides the above-mentioned, and well-known serpents, there 

 are several others which we have not been able to classify, from 

 the many difficulties which attend the study — among others, the 



