ANECDOTES OF RATTLESNAKES. 183 



snake loose, I inquired the nature of it : he 

 told me that the snake was in the habit of 

 climbing up his chair at breakfast-time, and 

 that that morning he had been so importunate 

 for milk, that he had given him a good rap 

 on the head with a spoon, and that he had 

 sprung on the floor, coiled up and rattling 

 furiously, erected his head, shewing two fangs 

 projecting. Having quieted the snake, he 

 took him, a few hours afterwards, by the 

 neck and was extracting the second pair when 

 I entered ; they had not grown from the 

 place where the former ones were extracted, 

 but from higher up in the upper jaw, and 

 seemed as if intended to supply the place of 

 the first pair in the event of their being 

 broken or injured : the last pair were move- 

 able and hollow, the same as the first, and 

 both had the small bag at the root containing 

 the poison. I am sorry to say that this snake 

 was killed by a strange Indian, who, entering 

 the room, found no one to answer his call, 

 but the serpent with his rattle : not knowing- 

 it was tame, he killed it with his machete, 

 and deprived the worthy owner of a semi- 

 sagacious companion, who could readily 

 distinguish between his master's friends 

 and strangers. 



