412 



HISTORY OF FROGS, LIZARDS, AND SERPEN1S. 



ger of these devouring creatures: porcupines, 

 with all their quills, have frequently been 

 found in their stomachs, when killed and 

 opened ; nay, they most frequently are seen to 

 devour each other. 



A life of savage hostility in the forest offeis 

 the imagination one of the most tremendous 

 pictures in nature. In those burning coun- 

 tries, where the sun dries up every brook for 

 hundreds of miles round; when what had the 

 appearance of a great river in the rainy season, 

 becomes, in summer, one dreary bed of sand 

 in those countries, I say, a lake that is 

 never dry or a brook that is perennial, is con- 

 sidered by every animal as the greatest con- 

 venience of nature. As to food, the luxuriant 

 landscape supplies that in sufficient abundance: 

 it is the want of water that all animals endea- 

 vour to remove ; and inwardly parched by the 

 heat of the climate, traverse whole deserts to 

 find out a spring. When they have discovered 

 tliis, no dangers can deter them from attempt- 

 ing to slake their thirst. Thus the neighbour- 

 hood of a rivulet, in the heart of the tropical 

 continents, is generally the place where all the 

 hostile tribes of nature draw up for the engage- 

 ment. On the banks of this little envied spot, 

 thousands of animals of various kinds are seen 

 venturing to quench their thirst, or preparing 

 to seize their prey. The elephants are per- 

 ceived, in a long line, marching from the 

 darker parts of the forest ; the buffaloes are 

 (here, depending upon numbers for security ; 

 the gazelles, relying solely upon their swift- 

 ness ; the Hot) and tiger waiting a proper op- 

 portunity to seize ; but chiefly the larger ser- 

 pents are upon guard there, and defend the ac- 

 cesses of the lake. Not an hour passes with- 

 out some dreadful combat ; but the serpent, de- 

 fended by its scales, and naturally capable of 

 sustaining a multitude of wounds, is, of all 

 others, the most formidable. It is the most 

 wakeful also ; for the -whole tribe sleep with 

 their eyes open, and are, consequently, for ever 

 upon the watch : so that, till their rapacity is 

 satisfied, few other animals will venture to ap- 

 proach their station. 



But though these animals are, of all others, 

 the most voracious, and though (he morsel 

 which they swallow without chewing is greater 

 than what any other creature, either by land 

 or water, the whale itself not excepted, can 

 devour, yet no animals upon earth bear absti- 

 nence so long as they. A single meal, with 

 many of the snake kind, seems to be the adven- 

 ture of a season ; it is an occurrence for which 

 they have been for weeks, nay, sometimes for 

 months, in patient expectation of. When 

 they have seized their prey, their industry, for 

 several weeks, is entirely discontinued ; the 

 fortunate capture of an hour often satisfies 

 them for the remaining period of their annual 



activity. As their blood is colder than that 

 of most other terrestrial animals, and as it cir- 

 culates but slowly through their bodies, so 

 their powers of digestion are but feeble. 

 Their prey continues for a long time, partly 

 in the stomach, partly in the gullet, and a 

 part is often seen hanging out of the mouth. 

 In this manner, it digests by degrees; and in 

 proportion as the part below is dissolved, the 

 part above is taken in. It is not therefore, 

 till this tedious operation is entirely performed 

 that the serpent renews its appetite and its 

 activity. But should any accident prevent it 

 from issuing once more from its cell, it still 

 can continue to bear famine for weeks, months, 

 nay, for years together. Vipers are often 

 kept in boxes for six or eight months without 

 any food whatever ; and there are little ser- 

 pents sometimes sent over to Europe from 

 Grand Cairo, the name of which I have not 

 been able to learn, that live, for several years, 

 in glasses, and never eat at all, nor even stain 

 the glass with their excrements. Thus the 

 serpent tribe unite, in themselves, two very 

 opposite qualities : wonderful abstinence, and 

 yet incredible rapacity. 



If, leaving the consideration of their appe- 

 tites, we come to compare serpents, as to their 

 voices, some are found silent, some have a 

 peculiar cry ; but hissing is the sound which 

 they most commonly send forth, either as a 

 call to their kind, or as a threat to their ene- 

 mies. In the countries where they abound, 

 they are generally silent in the middle of the 

 day, when they are obliged to retire from the 

 heat of the climate ; but as the cool of the 

 evening approaches, they are then heard issu- 

 ing from their cells with continued hissings ; 

 and such is the variety of their notes, that 

 some have assured me they very much resem- 

 ble the music of an English grove. This 

 some will hardly credit at any rate, such 

 notes, however pleasing, can give but very 

 little delight, when we call to mind the ma- 

 lignity of the minstrel. If considered, indeed, 

 as they answer the animal's own occasions, 

 they will be found well adapted to its nature, 

 and fully answering the purposes of terrifying 

 such as would venture to offend it. 



With respect to motion, some serpents, 

 particularly those of the viper kind, move 

 slowly ; while others, such as the Ammodytes, 

 dart with amazing swiftness. The motion in 

 all is similar; but the strength of body in some 

 gives a very different appearance. The viper, 

 that is but a slow feeble-bodied animal, 

 makes way in a heavy undulating manner ; 

 advancing its head, then drawing up its tail 

 behind, and bending the body into a bow ; 

 then, from the spot where the head and tail 

 were united, advancing the head forward as 

 before. This, which is the motion of all 



