216 WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA 



easily get my head into his mouth, as the singular 

 formation of the jaws admits of wonderful ex- 

 tension. 



A Dutch friend of mine, by name Brouwer, 

 killed a Boa, twenty-two feet long, with a pair of 

 stag's horns in his mouth: he had swallowed the 

 stag, but could not get the horns down: so he 

 had to wait in patience with that uncomfortable 

 mouthful till his stomach digested the body, and 

 then the horns would drop out. In this plight 

 the Dutchman found him as he was going in his 

 canoe up the river, and sent a ball through his 

 head. 



On ascertaining the size of the serpent which 

 the negro had just found, I retired slowly the 

 way I came, and promised four dollars to the ne- 

 gro who had shown it to me, and one to the 

 other who had joined us. Aware that the day 

 was on the decline, and that the approach of night 

 would be detrimental to the dissection, a thought 

 struck me that I could take him alive. I imagined 

 if I could strike him with the lance behind the 

 head, and pin him to the ground, I might succeed 

 in capturing him. When I told this to the ne- 

 groes, they begged and entreated me to let them 

 go for a gun, and bring more force, as they were 

 sure the snake would kill some of us. 



I had been at the siege of Troy for nine years, 

 and it would not do now to carry back to Greece, 

 ^'nil decimo nisi dedecus anno." I mean, I had 

 been in search of a large serpent for years, and 

 now having come up with one, it did not become 

 me to turn soft. So, taking a cutlass from one 

 of the negroes, and then ranging both the sable 



