OF NORTH CAROLINA. 215 



back a dirty brown ; they are large but have not 

 much venom in them as ever I learnt. The next 

 is a large snake, of a brown, dirt color, and always 

 abides in the marshes. 



The last is mottled and very poisonous. They 

 dwell in swamp sides and ponds, and have prodi- 

 gious wide mouths, and, though not long, arrive 

 to the thickness of the calf of a man's leg. 



Redbelly land snakes. — These frequent the land 

 altogether, and are so called because of their red 

 bellies, which incline to an orange color. Some 

 have been bitten with these sort of snakes, and 

 not hurt, when others have sufiered very much by 

 them. "Whether there be two sorts of these snakes 

 which we make no difference of, I cannot at pres- 

 ent determine. 



Redback. — I never saw but one of these, which 

 I stept over, and did not see him till he that 

 brought the chain after me spied him. He has a 

 red back as the last has a red belly. They are a long, 

 slender snake, and very rare to be met withal. I 

 enquired of the Indian that was along with me, 

 whether they were very venomous, who made an- 

 swer that if he had bitten me, even the Indians 

 could not have cured it. 



The black truncheon snake. — This sort of snake 

 might very well have been ranked with the water 

 snakes. They lie under roots of trees, and on the 

 banks of rivers. When anything disturbs them, 

 they dart into the water (which is salt) like an ar- 

 row out of a bow. They are thick, and the short-* 



