WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA 219 



the neck, and pinned him to the ground. That 

 moment, the negro next to me seized the lance, 

 and held it firm in its place, while I dashed head 

 foremost into the den to grapple with the snake, 

 and to get hold of his tail before he could do any 

 mischief. 



On pinning him to the ground with the lance, he 

 gave a tremendous loud hiss, and the little dog 

 ran away, howling as he went. We had a sharp 

 fray in the den, the rotten sticks flying on all 

 sides, and each party struggling for superiority. 

 I called out to the second negro to throw himself 

 upon me, as I found I was not heavy enough. 

 He did so, and the additional weight was of great 

 service. I had now got firm hold of his tail ; and 

 after a violent struggle or two, he gave in, find- 

 ing himself overpowered. .This was the moment 

 to secure him. So, while the first negro con- 

 tinued to hold the lance firm to the ground, and 

 the other was helping me, I contrived to unloose 

 my braces, and with them tied up the snake's 

 mouth. 



The snake now finding himself in an unpleasant 

 situation, tried to better himself, and set reso- 

 lutely to work, but we overpowered him. We 

 contrived to make him twist himself round the 

 shaft of the lance, and then prepared to convey 

 him out of the forest. I stood at his head and 

 held it firm under my arm, one negro supported 

 the belly, and the other the tail. In this order 

 we began to move slowly towards home, and 

 reached it after resting ten times; for the snake 

 was too heavy for us to support him without 

 stopping to recruit our strength. As we pro- 



