SNAKES. 117 



"The father and his son," he says, " went ... . .a 

 few miles up the Teffe to gather wild fruit ; land- 

 ing on a sloping sandy shore, where the boy was 

 left to mind the canoe whilst the man entered the 

 forest. The beaches of the Teffe form groves of 

 wild guava and myrtle trees, and during most 

 months of the year are partly overflown by the 

 river. Whilst the boy was playing in the water 

 under the shade of the trees a huge reptile of 

 this species stealthily wound its coils around 

 him, unperceived, until it was too late to escape. 

 His cries quickly brought the father to the rescue, 

 who rushed quickly forward, and seizing the 

 Anaconda boldly by the head, tore his jaws 

 asunder." When in the trees it will often dart 

 down its head from a considerable height to seize 

 a passing peccary or other animal. In the water 

 it lurks in quiet pools, or floats down with the 

 current, but like the Grass Snake, keeps its head 

 well above the surface. 



The Javan Wart Snake (Acroch&rdus javanicus), 

 may be taken as the representative of a family 

 which is almost if not absolutely aquatic, frequent- 

 ing rivers or estuaries, with brackish water, and 

 occurring far out to sea. From these, it is but a 

 step to strictly marine snakes. These are repre- 

 sented by more than sixty species, occurring in 

 the Indian and Western South Pacific Oceans. 

 They are found, says M. Boulenger, "in abundance 

 in the Persian Gulf, along the coasts of India, 

 Burma, and the Malay Archipelago, to North 

 Australia and New Caledonia." The coast- 

 frequenting species ascend rivers. Between 

 these marine forms which penetrate up the 



