98 THE FER-DE-LANCE. 



coiled up in the nest of some poor bird whose eggs or young it has devoured, and 

 from this spot of vantage makes its stroke, swift and straight as a fencer's thrust, and 

 without the least warning by hiss or rattle to indicate its purpose. 



All animals dread the Fer-de-Lance ; the horse prances and snorts in terror on 

 approaching its hiding-place, his whole frame trembles with fear, and he cannot be 

 induced by spur or whip to pass within striking distance of this formidable reptile. 

 Birds of all kinds have a horror of its presence, and will pursue it from place to place, 

 or hover near the spot on which it is resting, fluttering their wings, stretching their 

 necks, and uttering hoarse cries of mingled rage and terror. The honey guide is 

 especially fearful of this Serpent, and has often guided a man, not as he supposed, to 

 the vicinity of a hive of wild bees, but to the resting-place of this venomous Snake. 

 The pig, when in good condition, is said to be the only animal that can resist the poi- 

 son, the thick coating of fat which covers the body preventing the venom from min- 

 gling with the blood. It is said, indeed, that a fat hog cares nothing for Fer-de-Lance 



FER-DE-LANCE. Craspedocephalus laaceolatus. 



or rattlesnake, but receives their stroke with contemptuous indifference, charges at 

 them fearlessly, tramples upon them until they are disabled and then quietly eats 

 them. 



Against the effects of this poison, there seems to be no certain remedy ; but the 

 copious use of spirits has lately appeared to neutralize in some measure the full viru- 

 lence of a Snake bite. The amount of strong spirits which can be drunk under such 

 circumstances is almost incredible, its whole force seeming to be employed in arming 

 the nerves against the enfeebling power of the poison. Some recent and valuable 

 experiments have shown, that if a man, bitten by a venomous Serpent, can be kept in 

 a state of semi-intoxication through the use of spirituous liquors, this rather strange 

 process will give him almost his only hope of escape. 



Yet nothing is made in vain, and terrible as is this creature to man, it is of no small 

 use to him even in the localities where it is most dreaded. But for the presence of the 

 Fer-de-Lance and one or two other Serpents closely allied to it, the sugar plantations 

 would be devastated by the rats which crowd to such fertile spots, and on which this 

 Snake chiefly feeds. 



