NATURALISTS CABINET. 



Anecdote of its crushing a man to death. 



trunk of a tree ; but the monster beginning to- 

 move, the poor fellow perceived what it was that 

 he had thus approached, and dropped down in 

 an agony. The soldier, who, at some distance, 

 saw what had happened, levelled his piece at the 

 serpent's head, and, by a lucky aim, shot it dead j 

 and, going up to the relief of his companion, 

 found that he was also dead from his fright. On 

 his return he related what had happened ; the 

 animal was ordered to be brought, and it was 

 found to be thirty-six feet long. The skin was 

 stuffed, and sent to the cabinet of the Prince of 

 Orange. 



We also read in the Bombay Courier of Au- 

 gust 31, 1799, that a Malay prow was making 

 lor the port of Amboyna, but the pilot, finding 

 she could not enter it before dark, brought her 

 to anchor for the niojht close under the island of 



o 



Celebes. One of the crew went on shore in 

 ^quest of betel nut in the woods, and on his return 

 lay down, as it is supposed, to sleep on the 

 beach. In the course of the night he was heard 

 by his comrades to scream out for assistance. 

 They immediately went on shore, but it was too 

 late, for an immense snake of this species had 

 crushed him to death. The attention of the 

 monster being entirely occupied by his prey, 

 the people went boldly up to it, cut off its head, 

 and took both it and the body of the man on- 

 board their boat. The snake had seized the poor 

 fellow by the right wrist, where the marks of the 



