88 THE GREAT BOA. 



the people went boldly up to it, cut off its head, 

 and took both it and the body of the man on board 

 their boat. The snake had seized the poor fellow 

 by the right wrist., where the marks of the fangs 

 were very distinct ; and the mangled corpse bore 

 evident [signs of being crushed by the monster's 

 twisting itself round the head, neck, breast, and 

 thigh. The length of the snake was about thirty 

 feet; its thickness equal to that of a moderate- 

 sized man; and, on extending its jaws, they were 

 found wide enough to admit at once a body of the 

 size of a man's head. 



We have been assured by travellers that these 

 animals are sometimes found with the body of a 

 stag in their gullet ; while the horns, which they 

 are unable to swallow, are seen sticking out at 

 their mouths. 



It is happy for mankind that their rapacity is 

 often their own punishment; for, whenever they 

 have gorged themselves in this manner, they be- 

 come torpid, and may be approached and destroyed 

 with safety. Patient of hunger to a surprising 

 degree, whenever they seize and swallow their 

 prey, they seem, like surfeited gluttons, unwieldy, 

 stupid, helpless, and sleepy. They at that time 

 seek for some retreat, where they may lurk for 

 several days together, and digest their meal in 

 safety. The smallest effort then will destroy them; 

 they scarcely can make any resistance ; and equally 

 unqualified for flight or opposition, even the naked 

 Indians do not fear to assail them. But it is other- 

 wise when this sleeping interval of digestion is 



