PRESENTED WITH A PYTHON. 537 



to the Governor of the Straits Settlements, who re- 

 ceived me in the most polite manner and kindly offered 

 to assist me in any ^vay in his power. At my request, 

 he gave me notes of introduction to the Governor 

 of Hong Kong and the admii-al commanding her 

 Majesty's fleet in the seas of China and Japan. A 

 few days of rest after my long journeys over Suma- 

 tra soon glided by, and I was ready to continue my 

 travels. 



From Singapore my plan was to proceed directly 

 to China, iDut finding in port a French ship which 

 was bound for Hong Kong, via Saigon, the capital of 

 Cochin China, I engaged a passage on her in order to 

 see something also of the French possessions in the 

 East. Just as we were ready to sail I met a gentle- 

 man who had lately returned from a long joui'ney to 

 Cambodia, whither he had gone to photograph the 

 ruins of the wonderful temples in that land. He had 

 a specimen for me, he said, which I must accej>t before 

 I knew what it was, a condition I readily complied 

 with, but when the " specimen " appeared I must con- 

 fess I was not a little sui^prised to find it was an enor- 

 mous 2)^jthon. It had been caught by the natives of 

 Bankok after it had gorged itself on some unfortu- 

 nate beast, but that was some time before, and the 

 brute was evidently ready for another feast. My 

 cans containing alcohol were already on board the 

 ship, but I took the monster with me when I went 

 oft' to her late in the evening, designing to dro^vn it 

 in its box and then transfer his snakeship to a can. 

 The captain, with the gi'eatest politeness, met me at 

 the rail, and showed mc my state-room in the after- 



