A LARGE SNAKE. 3 



from the ground and came directly at him. Presence 

 of mind was not a defect Doctor Vans Best suffered 

 from ; a quick and unerring aim cut the reptile in 

 two, and so was terminated the life of what might 

 have been a most formidable antagonist. This brute 

 was a python or boa-constrictor, not unknown in the 

 lowlands of tropical South Africa, and varies but 

 little from the anaconda of the valleys of the Amazon 

 or Orinoco. It measured twenty-four feet in length, 

 and was of unusual thickness. Besides this trophy 

 he secured two muggers (crocodiles) of unusual size, 

 so that his hazardous expedition was not without 

 affording a reward. 



A gentleman with whom I became acquainted, an 

 officer of the well-known Pilot service, whose brigs 

 used to cruise in all weathers off the mouth of the 

 Hoogly, informed me that he had known many 

 natives, who had been indiscreet enough to land on 

 some of the low-lying islands of the locality, carried 

 off by tigers, and that a lascar was killed in a boat 

 by a python, the serpent being in turn dispatched by 

 the unfortunate victim's comrades after a most severe 

 battle. This reptile measured twenty-six feet in 

 length. I remember reading my notes of these 

 events to my friend the celebrated naturalist, Mr. 

 Blyth, at one time curator of the Calcutta Museum, 

 and he assured me that he had known of a boa- 

 constrictor being killed in the Sunderbunds that 

 measured in length thirty-two feet eight inches, and 

 that he believed that these non-poisonous serpents, 

 in the locality alluded to, often attained greater length. 

 I have never known the accuracy of a statement of 

 Mr. Blyth's questioned, and as a naturalist I doubt if 

 he ever had an equal. 



In conclusion, I would mention a sad occurrence 

 that took place in the Sunderbunds at the termination 

 of the last century. I do so, because the victim was 

 closely related to my very dear and true friend, 



B 2 



