742 



A HISTORY OF THE SERPENT KIND. 



low a goat whole. It is thickest in the mid- 

 dle of the body, and grows shorter and small- 

 er towards the head and the tail : on the mid- 

 dle of the back, there is a chain of small black 

 .spots running along the length of it; and on 

 each side, there are large, round, black spots, 

 at some distance from each other, which are 

 white in the centre : between these, near the 

 belly, there are two rows of lesser black spots, 

 M'hich run parallel to the back. It has a 

 double row of sharp teelh in each jaw, of a 

 white colour, and shining like mother-of-pearl. 

 The head is broad ; and over the eyes it is 

 raised into two prominences : near the ex- 

 tremity of the tail there are two claws, re- 

 sembling those of birds. 



These serpents lie hid in thickets, from 

 whence they sally out unawares, and raising 

 themselves upright on their tails, will attack 

 both men and beasts. They make a loud, 

 hissing noise when exasperated; and some- 

 times winding up trees, will dart down upon 

 travellers, and twist themselves so closely 

 round their bodies, as to despatch them in a 

 very few minutes. Condamine, however, af- 

 firms, that their bite is not dangerous; for 

 though the teeth are so large as to inspire 

 the beholder with terror, yet the wound they 

 make is attended with no dangerous conse- 

 quences whatever. Dellon affirms, that they 

 generally haunt desert places; and though 

 they are sometimes seen near great towns, or 

 on the banks of rivers, yet it is generally after 

 some great inundation: he never saw any but 

 what were dead; and they appeared to him like 

 the trunk of a great tree lying on the ground. 



To this class of large serpents, we may re- 

 fer the Depona, a native of Mexico, with a 

 very large head and great jaws. The mouth 

 is armed with cutting, crooked teeth, among 



which there are two longer than the rest, pla- 

 ced in the fore part of the upper jaw, but very 

 different from the fangs of the viper. All 

 round the mouth there is a broad scaly bor- 

 der; and the eyes are so large, that they give 

 it a very terrible aspect. The forehead is 

 covered with very large scales; on which are 

 placed others, that are smaller, curiously ran- 

 ged : those on the back are grayish, and along 

 it runs a double chain, whose ends are join- 

 ed in the manner of a buckler. Each side of 

 the belly is marbled with large square spots, 

 of a chesnut colour, in the middle of which 

 is a spot, which is round and yellow. They 

 avoid the sight of man; and, consequently, 

 never do much harm. 



Such are the most noted animals of the 

 serpent tribe; but to recount all, would be a 

 vain, as well as a useless endeavour. In those 

 countries where they abound, their discrimi- 

 nations are so numerous, and their colours so 

 various, that every thicket seems to produce 

 a new animal. The same serpent is often 

 found to bring forth animals of eight or ten 

 different colours: and the naturalist who at- 

 tempts to arrange them by that mark, will 

 find that he has made distinctions which are 

 entirely disowned by nature : however, a very 

 considerable number might be added to en- 

 large the catalogue; but having supplied a 

 general history, the mind turns away from a 

 subject where every object presents some- 

 thing formidable or loathsome to the imagi- 

 nation. Indeed, the whole tribe resemble 

 each other so nearly, that the history of one 

 may almost serve for every other. They are 

 all terrible to the imagination, all frightful to 

 behold in their fury, and have long been con- 

 sidered as a race of animals between whom 

 and man there is a natural antipathy. 



