PYTHONS AND BOAS. 191 



row of lateral eye-like spots having whitish centres and blackish rims. The 

 upper part of the head is dark, and divided by a black streak terminating in a 

 point on the muzzle, from the lighter cheeks ; while another oblique black streak 

 runs on each side behind the eye ; the under-parts being whitish with blackish spots. 

 The anaconda (Euneces murinus) is an inhabitant of the Guianas, Brazil, and 

 North-Eastern Peru, and is essentially an inhabitant of tropical forest regions. That 

 it is the largest of all living snakes there can be little doubt, but the precise limits 

 of size to which it may occasionally attain cannot be ascertained. A stuffed 

 example in the British Museum has a total length of 29 feet, and the species is 

 commonly stated to reach 33 feet, while, if native reports are to be trusted, 

 individuals of much larger size are occasionally met with. Although naturalists 

 are generally indisposed to credit the existence of monsters of 40 feet, or even 

 more, we confess that personally we are unable to share their incredulity, as it is 

 very improbable that the largest specimens have come under European observation. 

 From all accounts, it appears that the anaconda generally spends more of its time 

 in the water than on land, frequently floating down rivers with the current, 

 and at other times lurking in quiet pools with only its head raised above the 

 surface of the water. In such situations, or resting on rocks, stranded tree trunks, 

 or sandbanks, it lies in wait for its prey. It, however, frequently leaves the 

 water to pass a longer or shorter period on shore, when it may be found either 

 in trees, among rocks, or even on hot sand ; and it appears that when in a tree 

 this snake will often dart down its head from a considerable height to seize a 

 passing peccary or other animal. Bates tells us that the anaconda will occasionally 

 seize human beings, and this statement is fully confirmed by other observers. In 

 Brazil, where water is abundant throughout the year, this snake is active at all 

 seasons, although it is stated to display the most activity during the hot months 

 of December, January, and February. In other districts, however, according to 

 Humboldt, during the dry season, it is in the habit of burying itself deep in the mud 

 of the dried-up rivers, where it is sometimes disinterred by the natives in a torpid 

 condition. Very little is known with regard to the breeding-habits of the anaconda. 

 Since, however, females have several times been killed, containing eggs with embryos 

 far advanced inside them, it would seem that the young are born alive. When they 

 first make their appearance in the world, the young are reported to take to the 

 water, although they soon leave it to pass a large portion of their time in trees. 



Long supposed to be exclusively a tropical and South American 



Tni6 BOtis ■ 



group, the true boas are common to the hotter regions of America 

 and Madagascar. From the anaconda, the boas may be distinguished by the 

 whole of the nasal shields being separated in the middle line by small scales. The 

 ' body may be either cylindrical or slightly compressed ; and the short and more or 

 less prehensile tail may have either the whole or a portion of the shields on its 

 lower surface arranged in a single series. In America the genus is represented 

 by five species, two of which range as far south as the inland districts of upper 

 Argentina. All species are characterised by having the loreal region of the head 

 covered either with a single small shield or with small scales, and by the number of 

 rows of shields on the under surface of the tail ranging from forty-five to sixty-nine. 

 On the other hand, in the Malagasy boas (Boa madagascariensis and dumerili) 



