HABITS OF THE RATTLESNAKE. 181 



growth. How far they are right it would be 

 difficult to discover ; but it is universally be- 

 lieved in all parts of the country. As every 

 one knows the bite is deadly, and it is very 

 rare for any one to recover, there would be 

 little use in enumerating the cases that have 

 come under my observation ; but there is one 

 peculiarity about the rattlesnake that very 

 few persons are acquainted with, and perhaps 

 the following little anecdote will best de- 

 scribe the way I became acquainted with it. 



Passing through a large straggling town not 

 far from the coast, and knowing there a dusky 

 caballero, who had once held a high position 

 in the Commonwealth, but, luckily for him- 

 self, escaped being shot, I paid him a visit, 

 and finding no one at the door, walked into 

 his reception-room^ such as it was. In the 

 middle of the room was a large rattlesnake, 

 playing up and down the back of a chair : 

 immediately on seeing me he slid down on 

 the floor, and coiling himself up, with his 

 head and neck in the centre of the coil, 

 began to rattle furiously. 



It is a great mistake to imagine that the 

 rattle is a warning for men to avoid them : 

 when they are moving about they make no 

 noise, and they never sound the rattle but 



