484 THRILLING ADVENTURES. 



lascar was left to take care of it, while the rest of the party 

 went after the fruit. 



The day was very hot. Not a breath stirred the trees, 

 whose branches overhung the water. The birds had sought 

 the cool groves farther inland. The sky was without a cloud, 

 and like burnished brass the water its reflection. The air 

 seemed standing still and panting for a cool breath. The 

 lascar waited patiently. The party did not return. Probably, 

 they were forced to proceed farther than they expected. A 

 half-hour passed and they did not appear. The lascar, made 

 listless by the intense heat, sank down under the seats of the 

 boat, and gradually yielded to the soft soothings of sleep. 

 In a few moments after lying down, he was dead to all exter- 

 nal things. He did not feel the heat. 



Suddenly, the head eager and dreadful of an enormous 

 snake, of the python species, peered over the branch of a 

 tree, near the boat. It quickly glanced around, as if to assure 

 itself that no wakeful foes were near, and slowly stretched its 

 head downward towards the boat. Good heavens ! the lascar 

 remains unconscious of the monster's advance. How it licks 

 its slimy chops in anticipation of a good meal ! What length ! 

 Many feet are stretched forward, and many remain coiled 

 around the trunks of the trees. Its skin is glossy, variegated, 

 and very beautiful ; but, oh ! how deadly will be the enormous 

 folds ! It has reached the boat, and has begun to coil itself 

 around the body of the sleeping lascar. Its jaws, foul and 

 slimy, are extended ; its forked tongue protrudes. Soon the 

 coil will crush the bones of the man. A yell of fear and sur- 

 prise pierces the air. The lascar awakes to feel his awful 

 situation, and to know that his friends have arrived, and are 

 at work for his deliverance. A portion of the monster's tail 

 is severed with a hatchet, and he lost the power of doing mis- 

 chief. The poor lascar shrieks to his companions to save him. 



A few more blows with oars and hatchets and the serpent 

 is dispatched, its head being severed and thrown into the 



