NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Manner in which one was skinned by a negro. 



fore, once more discovered the snake, they dis- 

 charged their pieces at once, and shot him 

 through the head. The negro brought a boat- 

 rope to drag him to the canoe which was lying 

 on the hank of the river. This proved no easy 

 undertaking, since the huge creature, notwith- 

 standing his being mortally wounded, still conti- 

 nued to writhe and twist about in such a manner 

 as to render it dangerous for any person to ap- 

 proach him. The negro made a running noose 

 on the rope, and, after some fruitless attempts to 

 make an approach, threw it over his head with 

 much dexterity; and now, all taking hold of the 

 rope, they dragged him to the beach, and tied 

 him to the stern of the canoe to take him in tow. 

 Being, however, still alive, h<? there kept swim- 

 ming like an eeL The length of this animal, 

 which the negroes declared to be only a young 

 one, and but arrived at half its growth, was 

 upwards of twenty-two feet ; and its thickness 

 about that of a boy near twelve years old, as was 

 proved by measuring tl\e creature's skin round 

 the body of the boy that was with them. When 

 they came to one of their stations they hauled 

 him on shore to skin him and take out the oil. 

 To effect this purpose^ one of the negroes having 

 climbed up a tree with the end of a rope, let it 

 down over a strong forked branch, and the others 

 hoisted up the snake and suspended him from 

 the tree. This done, the former negro, with a 

 sharp kuife between his teeth, kft the blanch, 



I 



