72 IN THE WILDS OF SOUTH AMERICA 



visited this rendezvous accompanied by several negro as- 

 sistants. The bats were all concealed within the board 

 walls, so that it was impossible to get at them, but the 

 negroes unhesitatingly tore away the slabs of flattened 

 bamboo and soon had the room filled with a squeaking, 

 fluttering swarm which they attacked with sticks. This 

 method of attack proving too slow, they grabbed guns and 

 fired into the masses amid wild shouts of merriment. When 

 the pandemonium was over and the heap of slain had been 

 collected, they respectfully removed their hats and in pass- 

 ing out of the church reverently bowed the knee before the 

 altar. 



We had been cautioned to be on the alert for snakes. 

 The deadly bushmaster or verrugosa was said to be par- 

 ticularly abundant. While hunting one day, Allen shot a 

 hawk and placed it in the back pocket of his hunting-coat. 

 To all appearances the bird was dead; while crawling 

 through a thicket a short time later he felt a sudden shaip 

 sting in his back and, throwing up his hands in terror, 

 yelled, "Oh, Lord ! one got me at last," thinking, of course, 

 that he had been struck by a snake. Hurriedly removing 

 his coat, the discovery was made that the supposedly dead 

 hawk had been stunned only and, reviving, had promptly 

 dug its talons in the first thing that offered a firm hold. 

 One may well imagine the unpleasantness of such an ex- 

 perience. 



Occasionally we saw a species of blacksnake that grows 

 to a length of more than twelve feet. It is perfectly harm- 

 less, but has the disagreeable habit of haunting trails and 

 footpaths near the villages. When a pedestrian approaches 

 it rears its head several feet above the groimd and calmly 

 gazes into his face. The first few times this happens, the 

 sudden, upward lunge of the big head, the rapidly playing 

 tongue and the beady eyes give one a decided shock and 

 provide ample cause for flight. Later, one becomes more 

 or less accustomed to it. This snake was also plentiful in 

 tropical Venezuela and Bolivia. 



