S8o JAMAICA, 



which had over-run the country. Some of the African Blacks, 

 after tliey come to Jamaica, make the yellow fnakc a favourite 

 part of their food, whenever they can catch it. They extraft the 

 fat from it by boiling, and ufe it inflead of butter ; but it is faid 

 to render them fcabby. 



I have frequently handled them alive. They feem not prompt 

 to bite, unlefs firfl provoked, and then with no more inconvenience 

 than a moufe. They are remarkably domeftic, and have often 

 been know^i to enter dwelling-houfes in the country parts, and 

 take up their abode very peaceably for a long time, until every rat 

 has either been devoured, or put to flight. They are alfo of a 

 docile temper, and may eafily be tamed. They are not fhy, like 

 feveral noxious reptiles ; nor apt to retire at the light of a man ; 

 a circumftance worth remarking in refpeift to animals in general, 

 . and which often diflinguifhes the friend from the foe. 



321. PoiSON-SXAKE. 



It is fo called by the Negroes from fear only, and not from any 

 known venomous qualities. One of this fpecies being killed, a 

 large bean, of about one inch in length, was found in its gullet 

 whole and uncorroded ; which feems to prove its food to be of the 

 vegetable kind. This fnake meafured three feet and one inch in 

 length. The yellow fnake is the largefl: fpecies in this ifland, fotne 

 of them meafuring fifteen or fixteen feet in length. 



322. Amphisbena, or Silver-Snake. 



This curious reptile feldom exceeds fixteen inches length. It is 

 believed, by the Negroes, to be venomous, but without the leafl 

 foundation, for it is as harmlefs as an earth-worm. It is either 

 very uncommon in the ifland, or very rarely feen. 



323. Wasp. 



This infeft differs but little, in fize, form, and colour, from the 

 European; and it is equally irritable, and apt to give annoyance 

 upon the flighteft provocation. They build fmall, waxen nefls, or 

 combs, in empty, deferted houfes, fufpcnding them from the rafters 

 of the roof. The cells are hexangular, and covered over one end 

 with a varnifhed membrane, to defend them from the rain. 



324. HONEV 



