SNAKES 87 



Lachesis borneensis is a brown species, and is found 

 on the ground amongst decaying vegetation. A young 

 specimen that I captured was coiled up, and so closely 

 resembled a fungus that I nearly placed my hand on 

 it before I realized its true nature. All the Bornean 

 vipers are sluggish creatures, and trust to their protec- 

 tive coloration and to immobility to elude the obser- 

 vation of their enemies rather than to hasty flight. 

 They lie in wait for their prey ; and here again their 

 colouring plays an important part, for their victims 

 are as easily misled as are their enemies. 



The snake which perhaps is more feared than any 

 other is the Python. There are two species in Borneo 

 Python reticulatus, which is common and sometimes 

 attains enormous proportions, and Python curtus, a 

 much rarer form and considerably smaller. Tales of 

 the prodigious strength of these crushing snakes are 

 told by native and European alike, but a good dis- 

 count must generally be allowed for exaggeration. 

 Fables, too, have grown round these monsters, such 

 as the belief of the Dayaks that if the terminal bone 

 of the vertebral column be planted in the ground a 

 new snake will grow from it. Much virtue is attached 

 by the Chinese to the fat of the Python, which is re- 

 garded as a cure for rheumatism ; the excrement [solid 

 urine] also, which is dry and bright primrose-yellow in 

 colour, is considered- to be a very efficacious remedy 

 for many complaints. The popular belief that the 

 Pythons and also the Boa-Constrictors of the New 

 World, after crushing their prey into a shapeless mass, 

 plentifully beslaver it with their saliva in order to 

 make swallowing easier, is quite erroneous. The prey 

 is seized with a violent bite, and if it is small the 



