METHOD OF CATCHING SNAKES. 387 



ingenious method of capturing snakes. A small, but 

 highly-venomous reptile of this description, of a bright 

 green colour, having a row of white spots along the 

 sides, and with the triangular head, and enormous fangs, 

 which characterize the genus Trigano cephalm, was de- 

 tected by Sir Edward peeping from among the tangled 

 leaves of a bunch of Epidendra, which he was about to 

 gather. On pointing it out to our Malay attendants, 

 one of them immediately procured a long tapering twig, 

 and formed a running noose out of a fine grass, which 

 being fashioned according to his satisfaction, he passed 

 it over the extended head of the reptile, drew the knot 

 tight, and thus secured the prize, which I immediately 

 seized between the finger and thumb, and divided the 

 spinal cord with the point of a pen-knife ; for the natives, 

 if they could have had their way, would have crushed the 

 head, and so ruined the specimen, 



At Singapore I first had the pleasure of observing 

 those tiny paragons of the East, the Sun-birds (Cinnyris), 

 which, like their brilliant representatives of the West, are 

 etherial, gay, and sprightly in their motions, flitting 

 briskly from flower to flower, and assuming a thousand 

 lively and agreeable attitudes. As the sunbeams glitter 

 on their bodies, they sparkle like so many precious 

 stones, and exhibit, as they turn, a variety of bright and 

 iridescent hues, "like atoms of the rainbow fluttering 

 round," as a poet has described them. As they hover 

 round the honey-laden blossoms, they vibrate rapidly 

 their tiny pinions, producing in the air, a slight whirring 

 sound, but not so loud as the humming noise produced 



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