SOUTH AMERICA. 215 



that night. At daybreak, I sent to borrow ten THIRD 



f i JOURNEY. 



or the negroes who were cutting wood at a dis- - 

 tance ; I could have done with half that number, 

 but judged it most prudent to have a good force, 

 in case he should try to escape from the house 

 when we opened the bag. However, nothing 

 serious occurred. 



We untied the mouth of the bag, kept hinnciiisand 

 down by main force, and then I cut his throat. sUS? *' 

 He bled like an ox. By six o'clock the same even- 

 ing, he was completely dissected. On examining 

 his teeth, I observed that they were all bent like 

 tenter-hooks, pointing down his throat, and not 

 so large or strong as I expected to have found 

 them; but they are exactly suited to what they 

 are intended by nature to perform. The snake 

 does not masticate his food, and thus the only 

 service his teeth have to perform is to seize his 

 prey, and hold it till he swallows it whole. 



In general, the skins of snakes are sent to 

 museums without the head : for when the Indians 

 and Negroes kill a snake, they seldom fail to cut 

 off the head, and then they run no risk from its 

 teeth. When the skin is stuffed in the museum, 

 a wooden head is substituted, armed with teeth 

 which are large enough to suit a tiger's jaw ; and 

 this tends to mislead the spectator, and give him 

 erroneous ideas. 



During this fray with the serpent, the old negro, 

 Daddy Quashi, was in George-town procuring 



