LEAVES FROM THE NOTE-BOOK OF A NATURALIST. 



119 



Captain Stedman was lying in his hammock, as 

 his vessel floated down the river, when the senti- 

 nel told him that he had seen and challenged 

 something black moving in the brushwood on the 

 beach, which gave no answer. Up rose the cap- 

 tain, manned the canoe that accompanied his ves- 

 sel, and rowed to the shore to ascertain what 

 it was. One of his slaves cried out that it was 

 no negro but a great snake, that the captain might 

 shoot if he pleased. The captain, having no such 

 inclination, ordered all hands to return on hoard. 

 The slave, David, who had first challenged the 

 snake, then begged leave to step forward and 

 shoot it. This seems to have roused the captain, 

 for he determined to kill it himself, and loaded 

 with hall cartridge. 



The master and slave then proceeded. David 

 cut a path with a bill-hook, and behind came a ma- 

 rine with three more loaded guns. They had not 

 gone above twenty yards through mud and water, 

 the negro looking every way with uncommon 

 vivacity, when he suddenly called out, " Me see 

 snakee !" and, sure enough, there the reptile lay, 

 coiled up under the fallen leaves and rubbish of 

 the trees. So well covered was it that some time 

 elapsed before the captain could perceive its head, 

 not above sixteen feet from him, moving its forked 

 tongue, while its vividly bright eyes appeared to 

 emit sparks of fire. The captain now rested his 

 piece upon a branch, to secure a surer aim, and 

 fired. The ball missed the head, but went 

 through the body, when the snake struck round 

 with such astonishing force as to cut away all the 

 underwood around it with the facility of a scythe 

 mowing grass, and, flouncing with its tail, made 

 the mud and dirt fly over their heads to a con- 

 siderable distance. This commotion seems to 

 have sent the party to the right about ; for they 

 took to their heels and crowded into the canoe. 

 David, however, entreated the captain to renew 

 the charge, assuring him that the snake would be 

 quiet in a few minutes, and that it was neither 

 able nor inclined to pursue them, supporting his 

 opinion by walking before the captain till the lat- 

 ter should be ready to fire. 



They now found the snake a little removed 

 from its former station, very quiet, with its 

 head, as before, lying out among the fallen leaves, 

 rotten bark, and old moss. Stedman fired at it 

 immediately, but with no better success than at 

 first ; and the enraged animal, being hut slightly 

 wounded by the second shot, sent up such a cloud 

 of dust and dirt as the captain had never seen, ex- 

 cept in a whirlwind ; and away they all again 

 retreated to their canoe. Tired of the exploit, 

 Stedman gave orders to row towards the barge ; 

 but the persevering David still entreating that he 

 might be permitted to kill the reptile, the captain 

 determined to make a third and last attempt in his 

 company ; and they this time directed their fire 

 with such effect that the snake was shot by one of 

 them through the head. 



The vanquished monster was then secured by a 

 running noose passed over its head, not without 



some difficulty, however ; for, though it was mor- 

 tally wounded, it continued to writhe and twist 

 about so as to render a near approach dangerous. 

 The serpent was dragged to the shore, and made 

 fast to the canoe, in order that it might be towed 

 to the vessel, and continued swimming like an eel 

 till the party arrived on board, where it was 

 finally determined that the snake should be again 

 taken on shore, and there skinned for the sake of 

 its oil. This was accordingly done ; and David, 

 having climbed a tree with the end of a rope in 

 his hand, let it down over a strong forked bough, 

 the other negroes hoisted away, and the serpent 

 was suspended from the tree. Then David, quit- 

 ting the tree, with a sharp knife between his 

 teeth, clung fast upon the suspended snake, still 

 twisting and twining, and proceeded to perform 

 the same operation that Marsyas underwent, only 

 that David commenced his work by ripping the 

 subject up ; he then stripped down the skin as he 

 descended. Stedman acknowledges, that though 

 he perceived that the snake was no longer able to 

 do the operator any harm, he could not without 

 emotion see a naked man, black and bloody, cling- 

 ing with arms and legs round the slimy and yet 

 living monster. The skin and above four gallons 

 of clarified fat, or rather oil, were the spoils 

 secured on this occasion ; full as many gallons 

 more seem to have been wasted. The negroes 

 cut the flesh into pieces, intending to feast on it ; 

 but the captain would not permit them to eat what 

 he regarded as disgusting food, though they 

 declared that it was exceedingly good and whole- 

 some. The negroes were right and the captain 

 was wrong ; the flesh of most serpents is very 

 good and nourishing, to say nothing of the restora- 

 tive qualities attributed to it, and noticed in a 

 former paper. 



One of the most curious accounts of the benefit 

 derived by man from the serpent race, is related 

 by Kircher (see Mus. Worm.), where it is stated 

 that near the village of Sassa, about eight miles 

 from the city of Bracciano, in Italy, there is a 

 hole or cavern, called la Grotta delli Serpi, which 

 is large enough to contain two men, and is all 

 perforated with small holes like a sieve. From 

 these holes, in the beginning of spring, issue a 

 prodigious number of small, different colored ser- 

 pents, of which every year produces a new brood, 

 but which seem to have no poisonous quality. 

 Such persons as are afflicted with scurvy, leprosy, 

 palsy, gout, and other ills to which flesh is heir, 

 were laid down naked in the cavern, and, their 

 bodies being subjected to a copious sweat from the 

 heat of the subterraneous vapors, the young ser- 

 pents were said to fasten themselves on every part, 

 and extract, by sucking, every diseased or vitiated 

 humor ; so that, after some repetitions of this 

 treatment, the patients were restored to perfect 

 health. Kircher, who visited this cave, found it 

 warm, and answering in every way the description 

 he had of it. He saw the holes, heard a mur- 

 muring, hissing noise in them, and though he owns 

 that he missed seeing the serpents, it not being 



