34^ ULLOA*S VOYAGE TO SOUTH AMERICA. 



^ of which are feveral fmall round bones ; thefe, at every motion of the fnake, rattle, 

 and thence gave rife to its name. Thus nature, which has painted the coral fnake with 

 fuch fhining colours, that it may be perceived at a diftance, has formed the latter in 

 fuch a manner, that, as its colours render It difficult to diftinguifh it from the 

 ground, the rattle might give notice of its approach. 



The culebras de bejuco, which are very numerous, have their name from their colour 

 and fhape refembling the branches of the bejuco, and, as they hang down from that 

 plant, appear as real parts of the bejuco, till a too near approach unhappily dif- 

 covers the miftake ; and, though their poifon be not fo adive as that of the others, 

 without a fpeedy application of fome fpecific, it proves mortal. Thefe remedies are 

 perfectly known to the Negroes, Mulattos, and Indians frequenting the woods, and 

 called curanderos. But the fafeft antidote is the habilla, already mentioned. 



It is not, however, often that thefe dangerous ferpents bite any one, unlefs, from 

 inadvertence or defign, he has been the aggrelfor. Befides, they are fo far from having 

 any extraordinary agility, that they are remarkably torpid, and, as it were, half dead ; 

 fo that, were it not for their motion in retirmg to hide themfelves among the leaves, it 

 would be difficult to determine whether they were dead or alive. 



There are few parts of Europe which do not produce the cientopies or fcolopendra ; 

 *''•" but at Carthagena they not only fwarm, but are of a monftrous fize, and the more dan- 



gerous, as breeding more commonly in houfes than in the fields. They are generally 

 a yard in length, fome a yard and a quarter, the breadth about five inches, more or 

 lefs, according to the length. Their figure is nearly circular, the back and fides 

 covered with hard fcales, of a mufk colour, tinged with red ; but thefe fcales are 

 fo articulated, as not in the leaft to impede their motion, and at the fame time fo ftrong 

 as to defend them againft any blow, fo that the head is the only place where you 

 can flrike them to any purpofe. They are alfo very nimble, and their bite, without 

 timely application, proves mortal ; nor is the patient free from confiderable torture, 

 till the medicine has deftroyed the malignity of the poifon. 



The alacranes, or fcorpions, are not lefs common, and of different kinds, as blacky 

 red, mufk colour, and fome yellow. The firfl generally breed in dry rotten wood, 

 ■^ and others in the corners of houfes, in clofets and cupboards. They are of different 



fizes, the largeft about three inches long, exclufive of the tail. The fling alfo of fome 

 is lefs dangerous than that of others ; that of the black is reckoned the mofl malignant, 

 though timely care prevents its being fatal. The flings of the other kinds produce 

 fevers, numbneffes in the hands and feet, forehead, ears, nofe and lips, tumours in 

 the tongue, and dimnefs of fight ; thefe diforders lafl generally twenty-four or forty- 

 eight hours, when^by degrees the patient recovers. The natives imagine, that a 

 fcorpion falling into the water purifies it, and therefore drink it without any examina- 

 tion. They are fo accuflomed to thefe infers, that they do not fear them, but readily 

 lay hold of them, taking care not to touch them only in the lafl vertebrae of the tail, 

 to avoid being flung y fometimes they cut their tails off and play with them. We 

 more than once entertained ourfelves with an experiment of putting a fcorpion into a' 

 glafs veffel, and injeding a little fmoke of tobacco, and immediately by flopping it 

 found that its averfion to this fmell is fuch, that it falls into the mofl furious agications, 

 ^, till giving itfelf feveral repeated flings on the head, it finds relief by deflroying itfelf.- 



Hence we fee that its poifon has the fame effed on itfelf as on others. 



Here is alfo another infe6l called caracol foldado, or the foldier-fnail. From the middle 

 •<-^a6i*.v&of the body to the poflerior extremity it is fhaped like the common fnail, of a whitifh 

 'T colour and a fpiral form : but the other half of the body refembles a crab, both in fize 



(^ and 



