34 TRAPPING WILD ANIMALS 
thrown limply about as the snake lashed the air. 
I yelled to the men to pull the head-rope taut. 
Fortunately, the tail-rope had not become loose, and 
we caught it just as the snake tried to lurch for- 
ward again. We allowed him to move forward 
slowly, drawing his head toward the crate and, at 
the same time, holding his tail until we had him 
stretched out. By prodding his tail with sticks, we 
forced him to uncoil and to release the body of the 
native. 
The head-noose had been slipped farther down 
than I wanted, and was giving his head too much 
play. Assuring the men that he could do no more 
harm, I took three of them with me and we grabbed 
the snake’s neck. He tossed us about, and we had 
several minutes of exciting work before we got 
the head into the open end of the crate. When the 
rope was secured, we fastened another rope about 
the middle of him. 
The snake lashed furiously, knocking several of 
the natives down. Stationing a crew of men at the 
tail-rope to slacken it as we moved forward, I took 
the others to the crate and set them at pulling on 
the middle rope. As we dragged the python for- 
ward, he coiled in the crate; then, when he was 
half in, we secured the middle rope and head-rope 
to trees, passed the tail-rope through the crate and 
dragged the tail in. There was great rejoicing 
when we closed the end of the crate and prepared 
to haul it back to Palembang. We had captured a 
