THE WATER BOA. 301 



and is no less carefully provided for than if it were an inmate 

 of the Zoological Gardens. 



The Cerastes, or horned viper, one of the most deadly 

 serpents of the African deserts, is frequently exhibited by 

 Egyptian jugglers, who handle and irritate it with impunity : 

 they are supposed to render themselves invulnerable by the 

 chewing of a certain root, but most likely, as in the case of 

 the cobra-charmers, their secret consists in their courage and 

 perfect knowledge of the animal's nature. 



Although th^ Boas and Pythons are unprovided with 

 venomous fangs, yet, from their enormous size, they may well 

 be ranked among the deadly snakes ; for, as Waterton justly 

 remarks, ' it comes nearly to the same thing in the end whether 

 the victim dies by poison from the fangs, which corrupts his 

 blood, or whether his body be crushed to mummy and swal- 

 lowed by a Python.' 



The kingly Jiboya {Boa constrictor) inhabits the dry and 

 sultry localities of the Brazilian forests, where he generally 

 conceals himself in crevices and hollows in parts but little 

 frequented by man, and sometimes attains a length of thirty 

 feet. To catch his prey he ascends the trees, and lurks, 

 hidden in the foliage, for the unfortunate agutis, pacas, and 

 capybaras, whom their unlucky star may lead within his reach. 

 When full-grown he seizes the passing deer ; but, in spite of 

 his large size, he is but little feared by the natives, as a single 

 blow of a cudgel suffices to kill him. Prince Maximilian of 

 Neu Wied tells us that the experienced hunter laughs when 

 asked whether the Jiboya attacks and devours man. 



The Sucuriaba, Anaconda,. or Water Boa (Eunectes murinus), 

 as it is variously named, abounds in the swampy lowlands of 

 tropical America, where it attains so enormous a size that, 

 according to trustworthy witnesses,* monsters more than sixty 

 feet long are sometimes seen slowly crawling through the 

 submerged groves of the Buriti palm. While lazily stretched 

 out in the grass, it might easily be mistaken for the prostrate 

 trunk of one of these noble trees. It passes most of its time, 

 however, on the water, now reposing on a sand-bank with only 

 its head above the surface of the stream, now rapidly swimming 



* Spix and Martius, ' Eeisen in Brasilit-n.' 



