396 NATURAL HISTORY. 



river or pool, where animals of all kinds are likely to come to 

 quench their thirst. It patiently waits until some animal 

 draws within reach, when, with one spring, the Boa fixes its 

 teeth in the creature's head, coils its body round its victim, 

 and crushes it to death. After the unfortunate animal has 

 been reduced almost to a shapeless mass by the pressure of the 

 snake, its destroyer makes preparations for swallowing it en- 

 tire, a task which it accomplishes, although the slaughtered 

 animal is usually very much larger than the dimensions of the 

 serpent. At last, the snake succeeds in swallowing its prey, 

 and then lies torpid for nearly a month, until its enormous 

 meal is digested, when it again sallies forth in search cf 

 another. 



Even the buffalo has been known to fall a victim to this fear- 

 ful serpent, whose length frequently exceeds twenty-five feet. 



THE COBRA DE CAPELLO. 



The COBRA DE CAPELLO is a native of India. It must not 

 be confounded with several other hooded snakes, such as the 

 Haje of Egypt, the snake so frequently depicted en the hiero- 

 glyphical monuments. 



The serpent charmers invariably use this formidable reptile 

 for their performances. The exhibitors possess several Cobras 

 shut up in baskets, and when commencing their performances, 

 the lid of the basket is opened, and the snake creeps out. 

 Its course is arrested by the sound of the rude file that 

 the charmer always carries, and it immediately expands its 

 beautiful though threatening hood, erects its neck, and com- 

 mences a series of undulatory movements, which are continued 

 until the sound of the fife ceases, when the snake instantly 

 drops, and is replaced in its basket by its master. The 

 charmers appear to be able to discover snakes, and to induce 

 them to leave their retreats. Indeed it is rather a singular 

 fact, that those travellers who most strongly insist that the 

 snakes thus caught are tame and divested of their fangs, 

 appear to forget that even in that case the creatures must 

 have been previously caught in order to deprive them of 



