9 



THE CORAL SNAKE. 185 



almost uniform thickness from head to tail. 

 I have killed many dozens of them, generally 

 about daybreak, when they are going home ; 

 their food seems, by the few I have opened, 

 to consist of small lizards and very young 

 birds. Many remarkable escapes have come 

 under my immediate notice, but I can only 

 find room for one, almost miraculous. 



Two travellers were benighted in a huge 

 marsh, and, retracing some of their steps, 

 gained a small rising ground, that had, at 

 least, the advantage of affording a drier bed 

 than the deep mud. 



The horses were tethered, and, after a 

 woful scanty supper and cigar, they laid 

 down, and, being very tired, did not awake 

 till the sun was well up, when they resumed 

 their journey. About a league from the 

 hillock they had passed the night on, 

 another hillock was passed, and low groans 

 were heard to proceed from a man lying 

 on his back at the top of the rising 

 ground. Seeing the horsemen, he beckoned 

 them to approach, which, after a little 

 hesitation, they did ; though a decoy is 

 often laid in that manner. On approaching, 

 they were told that while he was asleep a 

 snake had crept up his loose drawers ; that 



