THE WHIZZ OF A BOOMERANG. 14! 



The white man had caught sight of the reptile at the same moment. It appeared 

 to have been stretched in a small open space, near the plain, where the light could 

 strike it, for some of the poisonous serpents of Asia and Africa find enjoyment in 

 the glare of the sun far beyond the power of a white person or ordinary animal to 

 stand. 



The hunters were advancing directly toward the spot where it lay, when it 

 reared its head a few inches and swiftly crawled into the jungle. Instead, however, 

 of continuing its flight, it halted ou the margin, coiled itself like the American 

 rattlesnake, and waited for the couple to come nigh enough for it to strike. 



Some persons see beauty in snakes, but I confess I never could feel anything 

 but horror and disgust in looking at them. There is something in the sight of a 

 crawling reptile which sends a shudder over me, and I believe the feeling is shared 

 by nine-tenths of mankind. 



But those who can find beauty in tue creature whose head, the Scriptures say, 

 the woman's seed shall bruise, would have been charmed with the reptile on which 

 Mr. Godkin and Pongo gazed. 



It was about four feet in length, slender and tapering, with crimson and yellow 

 bands along its back, which changed to greenish colored spots at the neck and tail. 

 The belly, as is the rule, was of a whitish tint. 



The head was reared nearly a foot, from the center of the coil, and was as broad 

 and flat as a child's hand. Just back of the small, glittering eyes rose two horny 

 protuberances, of the oddest imaginable appearance. The mouth was dispropor- 

 tionately large, and, at intervals, partly opened. From this darted forth a crimson 

 tongue, or rather a double tongue, for it seemed to be bifurcated at the root. It 

 curled about hither and thither, with such quickness that, at times, the mouth 

 appeared to be crossed by several tiny streaks of blood. 



" I have seen just such a snake as that in the Deccan," remarked Mr. Godkin, 

 after studying it a minute," and it is one of the most venomous in the world fully 

 as bad as the cobra de capello." 



" Want to catch him ?" asked Pongo, with a grin. 



"No, sir; I ain't hunting snakes for Mr. Barnum; there are plenty of them in 

 this part of the world, but I'll let him buy what he wants of Reiche, in New York, 

 or his old friend Hagenbeck, in Hamburg. But do you think you could catch him, 

 Pongo ? " 



" Yes, me catch him." 



"How?" 



" Kill him first" 



"All right; the best use you can put such creatures to is to kill them; that's 

 always my motto." 



The particular specimen of which I am writing quickly proved its demon-like 

 viciousncss. 



Its action in coiling and rearing its head was a challenge to the hunters 

 to attack it. It made not the slightest sound, but its bead-like eyes scintillated 



