A BIG SNAKE 163 



making a slip-noose, and, thus armed, started cau- 

 tiously toward his snakeship, intending to put the 

 noose over his head. As soon as I came near, he 

 partly uncoiled, opened his mouth very wide, thereby 

 disclosing his sharp teeth, and, hissing spitefully, struck 

 at me. I dodged behind a small tree, and, leaning out 

 as far as I dared, tried several times to noose him. He 

 was very savage, and looked powerful enough to crush 

 me in his folds. At this juncture my courage was at 

 rather low ebb. After I had teased him for some time, 

 he suddenly decided to leave my company, so he started 

 off at full speed. I caught up my gun and went after 

 him, and, by hard running through the thick scrub, 

 managed to head him off. He stopped, coiled up 

 again, and again I tried the noose. He was equal 

 to the occasion, putting his head under his coils in a 

 very sulky manner ; but as soon as I reached out and 

 caught him by the tail, he pulled away with great 

 force, and started off once more, his scales shining 

 like polished silver as he glided across a sunny patch 

 of ground. This time he took refuge under a fallen 

 tree ; and, before I could head him off, he was gliding 

 down the hole of some wild beast, which was partly 

 concealed by the dead branches. I reached the spot 

 just as the last two or three feet were going down, and, 

 seizing his tail with both hands, I hung on desper- 

 ately. With my feet braced against a limb of the 

 tree, I pulled till the tail cracked and snapped as if 



