180 BEASTS AND MEN 
meal, but he made nothing of it. A few hours later he 
swallowed a buck of forty-three pounds which had been 
refused by three other snakes, the swallowing process being 
completed in half an hour. But even this did not satisfy 
his appetite. About a week later I had to destroy a Siberian 
goat weighing fifty-two pounds, and after cutting off the 
horns, I threw the carcase into the reptile’s den. Neither | 
nor the keeper imagined that the snake would be able to 
swallow so large an animal; but when | returned an hour 
later I found that it had already been partially swallowed, the 
head being half-way down the monster’s throat. I quickly 
sent for a photographer, and by the time he arrived half the 
goat had already disappeared. The effort of swallowing was 
evidently very great. From time to time the snake emitted 
deep groans such as I had never heard before; but slowly 
the prey continued to vanish. When only a small part of the 
hind quarters was left projecting from the serpent’s jaws I 
had the photograph taken. A minute after, the snake, which 
had been swallowing its victim for two hours, brought it all up 
again. Whether it had been frightened by the process of 
photographing, or whether it had taxed its powers too severely, 
I cannot say. 
With a view to discovering the effects upon the animal 
which had been swallowed and then brought up again, I had 
it dissected on the following day. It was found that the 
goat's neck had been twisted completely out of its articula- 
tions. The ribs had been so pressed that they had all 
brdken off from the vertebre. From this, some idea can be 
obtained of the immense strength of these great creatures. 
Snakes do not begin to swallow their prey until they have 
killed it, which usually takes them a very short time. They 
always make for the head, and with lightning rapidity coil 
round the body of their prey. They then seize the head in 
their jaws and wring the animal’s neck. They keep firm 
hold upon the animal until the absence of any movement 
shows that it is quite dead. The feast then commences. In 
