Pythons.] 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



Ill 



2283. — The Anaconda 



(Boa sq/tcde). Boa murina, Linn. ; Boa aquatica. 



Prince Maxim. Mr. Bennet observes, that the term 



Anaconda appears to be of Ceylonese origin, and 



^ he applies it to the Python Tigris ; we, however, 



■> follow Ciivier and most naturalists, who appropriate 



'■ it to the present species. 



2264.— The Bojobi 



{Boa canina). Boa viridis, Boddart; Boa thalas- 

 sina, Laurenti. 



2265.— The Aboma 



(Boa cenchria, Linn.). Boa cenchris, Gmel. ; Boa 

 cenchrya, Prince Maxim. 



In Boa constrictor the head is covered to the end 

 of the muzzle with small scales like those of the 

 body; there are no pits in the plates along the 

 jaws. 



In Boa scytale the head has scaly plates from the 

 eyes to the end of the muzzle ; no pits on the jaw- 

 plates. 



In the Boa canina there are plates on the muzzle ; 

 the sides of the jaw have a kind of slit under the eye 

 and beyond it. 



In Boa cenchria there are scaly plates on the 

 muzzle, and pits or dimples upon the plates of the 

 jaws. 



Endowed with powers which in a semi-civilized 

 state of society must operate powerfully on the 

 mind ; at ease and freedom alike on the land, in the 

 water, or among the trees : at once wily, daring, and 

 irresistible in their attack, graceful in their move- 

 ments, and splendid in their colouring, — that such 

 creatures, to be both dreaded and admired, should 

 become the objects of superstitious reverence, is 

 scarcely to be wondered at. The ancient Mexicans 

 regarded the boa as sacred ; they viewed its actions 

 with religious horror; they crouched beneath the 

 fiery glance of its eyes ; they trembled as they 

 listened to its long-drawn hiss, and from various 

 signs and movements predicted the fate of tribes or 

 individuals, or drew conclusions of guilt or inno- 

 cence. The supreme idol was represented encircled 

 and guarded by sculptured serpents, before which 

 were offered human sacrifices. 



** On a blue throne, with four huge silver snakes. 

 As if the keepers of the sanctuary. 

 Circled, with stretching neck and fangs display'd, 

 Mexitii sate ; another graven snake 

 Belted with scales of gold his monster bulk." 



bUUTHEV. 



Often, however, the divinity was represented in 

 the form of a huge serpent, with a human victim in 

 his coils, or half ingulfed in his horrid jaws ; and 

 the priests had tame boas of great size, with which 

 they were familiar, and which they suffered to 

 wreath round them, and thereby inspiring the 

 people with wonder, fear, and servile obedience. 

 Finely has the late Dr. Southey, in his poem of 

 Madoc, depicted such an exhibition and its effects. 

 Neolin, the priest of the snake-god, is a prisoner in 

 the hands of Madoc and his party, when 



** Forth from the dark recesses of the cave 

 The serpent came ; the Hoamen at the sight 

 Shoutecf ; and they who held the priest, appall'd, 

 Relaxed their hold. On came the miglity snake. 

 And twined in many a wreath round Neolin, 

 Darting aright, alefk, his sinuous neck, 

 With searching eve and lilted jaw, and tongue 

 Quivering ; and hiss as of a heavy shower 

 Upon the summer rvoods. The Britons stood 

 .\atounded at the powerful reptile's bulk, 

 And that strange sight. His girth was as of man, 

 But easily could he have overtopp'd 

 Goliath's helmed he^d ; or that huge king 

 Of Basan, hugest of the Anakim. 

 What tlien was human strength if once involv'd 

 W'ithin those dreadful coils! The multitude 

 Fell prone and worshipp'd." 



It is probably of the boa constrictor, the emperor, 

 the devin, that Hernandez writes, under the name 

 of Temacuilcahuilia, so called fiom its powers, the 

 word meaning a fighter with five men. It attacks, 

 he says, those it meets, and overpowers them with 

 such force, that if it once coils itself around their 

 necks it strangles and kills them, unless it bursts 

 itself by the violence of its own efforts ; and he 

 states that the only way of avoiding the attack is 

 for the man to manage in such a way as to oppose 

 a tree to the animals constriction, so that while the 

 serpent supposes itself to be crushing the man, it 

 may be torn asunder by its own act, and so die. 

 We do not ask our readers for their implicit faith in 

 this. He adds that he has himself seen serpents as 

 thick as a man's thigh, which had been taken young 

 by the Indians and tamed ; they were provided with 

 a cask strewn with litter in the place of a cavern, 

 where they lived, and were for the most part quies- 

 cent, except at meal-times, when they came forth, 

 and amicably climed about the couch or shoulders 

 of their master, who placidly bore the serpent's em- 

 brace. They often coiled up in folds, equalling a 

 large cart-wheel in size, and harmlessly received 

 their food. In most accounts current respecting the 

 mode in which boas and pythons take their food, the 

 snake, after crushing its prey, is described as hcking 



the body with its tongue and lubricating it with 

 saliva, in order to facilitate the act of deglutition. 

 It has been observed with justice, that few worse in- 

 struments for such a purpose than the slender dark 

 forked tongue of these snakes could have been con- 

 trived; and that, in fact, the saliva does not begin 

 to be poured out abundantly till required to lubri- 

 cate the jaws and throat of the animal straining to 

 ingulf the carcass. We have seen these snakes 

 take their food, but they did not lubricate it, though 

 the vibratory tongue often touched it; we must, 

 therefore, withhold our credence from the common 

 assertion. 



The size attained bv the boa is often very great, 

 and larger individuals than any now seen occurred 

 formeriy, before their ancient haunts had been in- 

 vaded by human colonization. One killed in Suri- 

 nam by Captain Steadman, though asserted by the 

 natives to be young, measured upwards of twenty- 

 two feet in length, and yielded four gallons of fine 

 oil, exclusive of as much or more wasted. 



A specimen apparently of the Boa scytale, called 

 in Venezuela "La Culebra de Agua," or water- 

 serpent, and also "El Traga Venado," or deer- 

 swallower, which measures nineteen feet and a half 

 in length, was presented by Sir Robert Ker Porter 

 to the United Service Museum. He states that ' ' The 

 flesh of this serpent is white and abundant in fat. 

 The people of the plains never eat it, but make use 

 of the fat as a remedy for rheumatic pains, ruptures, 

 strains, &c." 



"This serpent," says Sir R. K. Porter, "is not 

 venomous nor known to injure man (at least not in 

 this part of the New World) ; however, the natives 

 stand in great fear of it, never bathing in waters 

 where it is known to exist. Its common haunt, or 

 rather domicile, is invariably near lakes, swamps, 

 and rivers ; likewise close wet ravines produced by 

 inundations of the periodical rains : hence, from its 

 aquatic habits, its first appellation. Fish, and those 

 animals which repair there to drink, are the objects 

 of its prey. The creature lurks watchfully under 

 cover of the water, and, whilst the unsuspecting 

 animal is drinking, suddenly makes a dash at the 

 nose, and with a grip of its back-reclining double 

 range of teeth never fails to secure the terrified 

 beast beyond the power of escape." 



It would appear that boas are apt to be carried 

 out to sea by sudden floods, and are sometimes 

 drifted alive on distant coasts. The Rev. Lans- 

 dovvn Guilding (writing in the Island of St. Vin- 

 cent) says, ' ' A noble specimen of the boa constrictor 

 was lately conveyed to us by the currents, twisted 

 round the trunk of a large sound cedar tree, which 

 had probably been washed out of the bank, by 

 the floods of some great South American river, 

 while its huge folds hung on the branches as it 

 waited for its prey. The monster was fortunately 

 destroyed after killing a few sheep, and his skeleton 

 now hangs before me in my study, putting me in 

 mind how much reason I might have had to fear in 

 my future rambles through St. Vincent, had this 

 formidable reptile been a pregnant female and 

 escaped to a safe retreat." 



The Pythons closely resemble the true boas, but 

 have the subcaudal plates double ; the muzzle is 

 sheathed with plates, and those covering the mar- 

 gins of the jaws have pits. These snakes, which 

 equal or exceed the boas in magnitude, are natives 

 of India, Africa, and Australia. Pliny speaks of 

 snakes in India of such a size as to be capable of 

 swallowing stags and bulls; and Valerius Maximus, 

 quoting a lost portion of Pliny's work, narrates the 

 alarm into which the troops under Regulus were 

 thrown by a serpent which had its lair on the banks 

 of the river Bagradas, between Utica and Carthage, 

 and which intercepted the passage to the river. It 

 resisted ordinary weapons, and killed many of the 

 men ; till at last it was destroyed by heavy stones 

 thrown from military engines used in battering 

 walls : its length is stated as a hundred and twenty- 

 three feet. Regulus carried its skin and jaws to 

 Rome, and deposited them in one of the temples, 

 where they remained till the time of the Numantine 

 war. 



Diodorus Siculus relates the account of the cap- 

 ture of a serpent, not without loss of life, in Egypt, 

 which measured thirty cubits long ; it was taken to 

 Alexandria. Suetonius speaks of a serpent exhi- 

 bited at Rome in front of the Comitium, fifty cubits 

 in length. 



Though we do not refuse credit to these narra- 

 tives, it must be added that in modern days we have 

 not seen serpents of such magnitude : yet they may 

 exist. Bontius observes that some of the Indian 

 pythons exceed thirty-six feet in length, and says 

 that they swallow wild boars, adding, "there are 

 those alive who partook, with General Peter Both, 

 of a recently swallowed hog cut out of the belly of 

 a serpent of this kind." These snakes, he observes, 

 are not poisonous, but strangle a man or other ani- 

 mal by powerful compression. The Ular-Sawa, or 

 Great Python of the Sunda Isles, is said to exceed. 



when full-grown, thirty feet in length ; and il ia nar- 

 rated that a " Malay prow being anchored for the 

 night under the Island of Celebes, one of tlie crew 

 went ashore, in search of betel nut, and, as was sup- 

 posed, fell asleep on the beach, on his return. In 

 the dead of the night his companions on board were 

 roused by dreadful screams ; they immediately went 

 ashore, but they came too late, the cries had ceased 

 — the man had breathed his last in the folds of an 

 enormous serpent, which they killed. They cut off 

 the head of the snake and carried it, together with 

 the lifeless body of their comrade, to the vessel; 

 the right wrist of the corpse bore the marks of the 

 serpent's teeth, and the disfigured body showed that 

 the man had been crushed by the constriction of 

 the reptile round the head, neck, breast, and thigh." 



Mr. McLeod in his ' Voyage of H.M.S. Alceste,' 

 after describing the mode in which a python on 

 board, sixteen feet in length, crushed and gorged 

 a goat, the distressing cries of which on being intro- 

 duced into the serpent's cage could not but excite 

 compassion, goes on to say that during a cap- 

 tivity of some months at Whidah, in the kingdom 

 of Dahomey, on the coast of Africa, he had op- 

 portunities of observing pythons of more than 

 double that size, and which were capable of swal- 

 lowing animals much larger than goats or sheep. 

 " Governor Abson," he adds, " who had for thirty- 

 seven years resided at Fort William (one of the 

 African Company's settlements there), desc ries 

 some desperate struggles which he has seen, or which 

 had come to his knowledge, between the snakes and 

 wild beasts, as well as the smaller cattle, in which 

 the former were always victorious. A negro herds- 

 man belonging to Mr. Abson (and who afterwards 

 limped for many years about the fort) had been 

 seized by one of these monsters by the thigh ; but 

 from his situation in a wood, the serpent in at- 

 tempting to throw himself round him got entangled 

 with a tree ; and the man being thus preserved from 

 a state of compression, which would instantly have 

 rendered him quite powerless, had presence of mind 

 enough to cut, with a large knife which he carried 

 about with him, deep gashes in the neck and throat 

 of his antagonist, thereby killing him, and disen- 

 gaging himself from his frightful situation. He never 

 afterwards, however, recovered the use of that limb, 

 which had sustained considerable injury from the 

 fangs and mere force of his jaws." 



Ludolph states that enormous snakes exist in 

 Ethiopia ; and Bosman informs us that entire men 

 have been found in the gullet of serpents on the 

 Gold coast. In the ' Oriental Annual ' is the follow- 

 ing narrative, explanatory of a well-known picture 

 by Mr. W. Daniell : — " A few years before our visit 

 to Calcutta," says the writer, "the captain of a 

 country ship while passing the Sunderbunds sent a 

 boat into one of the creeks to obtain some fresh 

 fruits, which are cultivated by the few miserable 

 inhabitants of this inhospitable region. Having 

 reached the shore the crew moored the boat under 

 a bank, and left one of their party to take care of 

 her. During their absence the lascar who remained 

 in charge of the boat, overcome by heat, lay down 

 under the seats and fell asleep. Whilst he was in 

 this happy state of unconsciousness an enormous 

 boa (python) emerged from the jungle, reached the 

 boat, had already coiled its huge body round the 

 sleeper, and was in the very act of crushing him to 

 death, when his companions fortunately returned at 

 this auspicious moment, and attacking the monster, 

 severed a portion of its tail, which so disabled it 

 that it no longer retained the power of doing mis- 

 chief The snake was then easily despatched, and 

 was found to measure, as stated, sixty-two feet and 

 some inches in length." It is hardly probable that 

 the snake had fairly entwined round the man, for 

 the sudden compression of the chest, had the snake 

 exerted its strength, would have been almost in- 

 stantly fatal. 



We need not enter into the painful and revolting 

 details of the mode in which the goat was crushed and 

 gorged on board the Alceste, the account of which is 

 given by Mr. McLeod, and has been often tran- 

 scribed ; suffice it to say, that with astonishing 

 velocity, like a flash which dazzles and is gone, the 

 goat was rigidly encircled in the monster's knotted 

 folds, and afterwards gradually swallowed ; the ap- 

 pearance of the snake, with the throat swelled out 

 as if about to burst, and the jaws dripping with 

 saliva, being hideous and disgusting. 



In March, 1841, a singular circumstance occurred 

 at the gardens of the Zoological Socieiy, which at 

 the same time caused no little surprise. A python 

 eleven or twelve feet long, and one about nine feet 

 long, were kept together in a well-secured cage ; 

 both had been fed one evening, the larger one with 

 three guinea-pigs and a rabbit ; but, as it would ap- 

 pear, his appetite was unsatiated. The next morn- 

 ing when the keeper came to look into the cage, the 

 smaller python was missing — its escape was impos- 

 sible — and the question was what had become of it ? 

 The truth was evident— its larger companion had 



