THE SERPENT. 



429 



countries, where such reptiles are common, 

 they make the distinction so exactly, that, 

 while they destroy serpents of one kind with 

 great animosity, they take others into their 

 houses, and even into their bosoms, with a kind 

 of unaccountable affection. The Esculapian 

 Serpent of Italy is among this number. It is 

 there suffered to crawl about the chambers ; 

 and often gets into the beds where people lie. 

 It is a yellow serpent, of about an ell long ; 

 and though innocent, yet will bite when exas- 

 perated. They are said to be great destroy- 

 ers of mice ; and this may be the reason why 

 they are taken under human protection. The 

 Boyuna of Ceylon is equally a favourite among 

 the natives ; and they consider the meeting it 

 as a sign of good luck. The Surinam Ser- 

 pent, which some improperly call the Ammo- 

 dytes, is equally harmless and desirable among 

 the savages of that part of the world. They 

 consider themselves as extremely happy if this 

 animal comes into their huts. The colours of 

 this serpent are so many and beautiful, that 

 they surpass all description; and these, per- 

 haps, are the chief inducements to the savages 

 to consider its visits as so very fortunate. A 

 still greater favourite is the Prince of Ser- 

 pents, a native of Japan, that has not its equal 

 for beauty. The scales which cover the back 

 are reddish, finely shaded, and marbled with 

 large spots of irregular figures mixed with 

 black. The fore part of the head is covered 

 with large beautiful scales ; the jaws bordered 

 with yellow; the forehead marked with a black 

 marbled streak; and the eyes handsome and 

 lively. But, of all others, the Gerendaof the East 

 Indies is the most honoured and esteemed. 

 To this animal, which is finely spotted with 

 various colours, the natives of Calicut pay 

 divine honours ; and while their deity lies 

 coiled up, which is its usual posture, the peo- 

 ple fall upon their faces before it with stupid 

 adoration. The African Gerenda is larger, 

 and worshipped in the same manner by the 

 inhabitants of the coasts of Mosambique. The 

 skin is not so finely spotted as the former ; but 

 it is variegated all over the body with very 

 fine white, ash-coloured, and black spots. 

 The brilliancy of colouring in these reptiles 

 would only serve with us to increase our dis- 

 gust ; but in those countries where they are 

 common, distinctions are made ; and even in 

 this horrid class there are some eyes that can 

 discover beauty. 



But in the larger tribe of serpents, there is 

 nothing but danger to be apprehended. This 

 formidable class, though without venom, have 

 something frightful in their colour, as well as 

 their size and form. They want that vivid 

 hue with which the savages are so much 

 pleased in the lesser kinds ; they are all 

 found of a dusky colour, with large teeth, 



which are more formidable than danger- 



ous. 



The first of this class is the great Liboya 

 of Java and Brazil, which Legaut affirms, he 

 has seen fifty feet long. 1 Nor is he singular 



1 The Boa Constrictor. This is the largest of the 

 serpent race, reaching generally to thirty feet in 

 length. Its ground colour is yellowish gray, on which is 

 distributed, along the back, a series of large, chine-like, 

 reddish brown, and sometimes perfectly red variegations, 

 with other smaller and more irregular marks and spots. 

 They are readily distinguished from other serpents in the 

 under surface of the tail, being covered with scuta or 

 divided plates, like those on their belly, and in their body 

 not being terminated by a rattle. There are three 

 species, natives of Africa, India, the larger Indian 

 islands, and South America, where they chiefly reside 

 in most retired situations in woods and marshy retreats. 

 In those cases where the boa attacks a large quadruped, 

 such as an antelope, he entwines himself round his prey, 

 and by his great muscular power crushes the principal 

 bones, so that the dimensions of the victim are consider- 

 ably reduced, and after a series of efforts which some- 

 times approach to strangulation, the monster makes an 

 end of his meal. There are stories of the boa constrictor 

 destroying even the buffalo and the tiger, by crushing 

 them in this manner by the astonishing force of its 

 muscles. We shall confine ourselves at present to a 

 well-authenticated account of the voracious appetite of a 

 serpent of this species, which was brought from Batavia, 

 in the year 1817, on board a vessel which conveyed 

 Lord Amherst and his suite to England. This serpent 

 was of large dimensions, though not of the very largest. 

 A living goat was placed in his cage. He viewed his 

 prey for a few seconds, felt it with his tongue, and then, 

 withdrawing his head, darted at the throat. But the goat, 

 displaying a courage worthy of a better fate, received the 

 monster on his horns. The serpent retreated, to return 

 to the combat with more deadly certainty. He seized 

 the goat by the leg, pulled it violently down, and twisted 

 himself with astonishing rapidity round the body, throw, 

 ing his principal weight upon the neck. The goat was 

 so overpowered that he could not even struggle for escape. 

 For some minutes after his victim was dead the serpent 

 did not change his posture. At length he gradually 

 slackened his grasp, and having entirely disengaged 

 himself, he prepared to swallow the lifeless body. Feel- 

 ing it about with his mouth, he began to draw the head 

 into his throat ; but the horns, which were four inches 

 in length, rendered the gorging of the head a difficult 

 task. In about two hours the whole body had disappeared. 

 During the continuance of this extraordinary exertion 

 the appearance of the serpent was hideous ; he seemed 

 to be suffering strangulation ; his cheeks looked as if 

 they were bursting ; and the horns appeared ready to 

 protrude through the monster's scales. After he had ac- 

 complished his task, the boa measured double his ordi- 

 nary diameter. He did not move from his posture for 

 several days, and no irritation could rouse him from his 

 torpor. 



The Anaconda is a name which, like that of the Boa 

 Constrictor, has been popularly applied to all the larger 

 and more powerful snakes. It appears to be of Ceylonese 

 origin, and may therefore belong of right, as well as of 

 usage, to the Indian species. 



Happily the appetite of these gigantic snakes bears no 

 proportion to their means of gratifying it, as a full meal 

 is uniformly succeeded by a state of torpor, which fre- 

 quently lasts for a month or six weeks, or, during the 

 cold season, even for a longer period. 



The term Python is bestowed on a genus approximat- 

 ing to the Boa, and which Cuvier conceives to contain all 

 the pretended Boas of the ancient continent. Among 



