34 TRAPPING WILD ANIMALS 



thrown limply about as the snake lashed the air. 



I yelled to the men to pull the head-rope taut. 

 Fortunately, the tail-rope had not become loose, and 

 we caught it just as the snake tried to lurch for- 

 ward again. We allowed him to move forward 

 slowly, drawing his head toward the crate and, at 

 the same time, holding his tail until we had him 

 stretched out. By prodding his tail with sticks, we 

 forced him to uncoil and to release the body of the 

 native. 



The head-noose had been slipped farther down 

 than I wanted, and was giving his head too much 

 play. Assuring the men that he could do no more 

 harm, I took three of them with me and we grabbed 

 the snake's neck. He tossed us about, and we had 

 several minutes of exciting work before we got 

 the head into the open end of the crate. When the 

 rope was secured, we fastened another rope about 

 the middle of him. 



The snake lashed furiously, knocking several of 

 the natives down. Stationing a crew of men at the 

 tail-rope to slacken it as we moved forward, I took 

 the others to the crate and set them at pulling on 

 the middle rope. As we dragged the python for- 

 ward, he coiled in the crate; then, when he was 

 half in, we secured the middle rope and head-rope 

 to trees, passed the tail-rope through the crate and 

 dragged the tail in. There was great rejoicing 

 when we closed the end of the crate and prepared 

 to haul it back to Palembang. We had captured a 



