102 



The Great Boa (Boa Constrictor). 



By those who are unacquainted with the wonders 

 of nature, the descriptions given by naturalists of 

 some of the more striking and singular animals are 

 received with a degree of scepticism, or even rejected, 

 as exceeding the bounds of credibility. Amongst 

 these animals may be numbered the prodigious ser- 

 pents which are sometimes found in India, Africa, 

 and America; seipents of so great a size as to be able 

 to gorge even some of the largest quadrupeds, and of 

 so enormous a length as to measure upwards of 

 thirty feet. There is reason to believe, that these im- 

 mense serpents are become less common than they 

 were some centuries back ; and that in proportion as 

 cultivation and population have increased, the larger 

 species of noxious animals have been expelled from 

 the haunts of mankind. They are, however, occasi- 

 onally seen, and sometimes approach the plantations 

 nearest to their residence. It is happy for mankind 

 that these serpents are not poisonous ; thty are there- 

 fore to be dreaded only on account of their size and 

 strength, which latter is so great as to enable them to 

 kill cattle, deer, and other animals, by writhing them- 

 selves round them, so as to crush them to r'eath by 

 mere pressure ; after which they swallow them in a 

 very gradual manner ; and when thus gorged with 

 their prey, grow almost torpid with repletion : and if 

 discovered in this state, may without diflTiculty be 

 dispatched. — These enormous serpents are natives of 

 Africa, India, the Indian Islands, and South America, 

 where they inhabit marshy and woody places. Tliere 

 are several species of the Boa in this collection, one 

 of which is considered by naturalists, in respect to 



