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CHAPTER II. 

 TMH SERPENT KENTD. 



" Lo ! the green serpent, from his dark abode, 

 Which ev'n imagination fears to tread ; 

 At noon forth issuing, gathers up his train 



In orbs immense ; 



with threatening tongue 



And deathful jaws erect, the monster curls 

 His flaming crest." — Thomson. 



After continuing our range for so long a time among the va- 

 rious tribes of animal life, we now come to a class, which, above 

 all others, has excited terror in man, as well as in almost every 

 other creature. This is the serpent race, of which the view 

 always excites sensations of horror. 



The distinguishing characteristics of serpents are, that they 

 breathe through the mouth, and have neither legs, ears, nor fins. 

 The serpent tribe are not in any of the European countries suf- 

 ficiently numerous or formidable to be truly objects of terror. 

 There are not above three or four kinds that are dangerous, and 

 the poison of all operates in the same manner. A burning pain, 

 easily removed by timely application, is the worst consequence 

 that is to be apprehended from the bite of any of the serpents 

 found in Europe. However, although that quarter of the globe 

 is free from these dangerous reptiles, in the tropical regions, 

 where the climate is sultry, the forests thick, and the inhabitants 

 few in number, serpents multiply in proportion. Along the 

 swampy banks of the great rivers of Africa and America, par- 

 ticularly the Niger and Oronoko, they are seen clinging in 

 amazing numbers to the branches of trees ; and in those parts, 

 they carry on unceasing hostilities against all the other animals 

 in their vicinity. In those warm and fertile countries, the ser- 

 pent tribes grow to an enormous size, and are objects of terror 

 rather than of curiosity. 



History informs us, that when Regulus. the Roman general, 

 led his army along the banks of the river Bagrada, in Africa, an 

 enormous serpent disputed his passage, and destroyed many of 

 his soldiers. This unexpected enemy could not be subdued, 

 until the battering engines were brought against it, which as- 

 sailing it at a distance, soon accomplished its destruction. Pliny 

 informs us, that he himself saw the skin, and asserts, that it was 

 not less than a hundred and twenty feet in length. 



Perhaps it would not be just to reject as wholly fabulous, the 



