CURIOUS DWELLERS OF SWAMP AND FOREST. 153 



joined us, judging from our pace that there was something 

 to do. The little dog came along with us, and when we 

 had got about a mile into the forest the negro stopped, 

 and pointed to the fallen tree. I told the negroes not to 

 stir from the place where they were, and to keep the little 

 dog in, and that I would go on and reconnoiter. 



4. I advanced up to the place slowly and cautiously. 

 The snake was well concealed, but at last I made him out ; 

 it was a coulacanara, not poisonous, but large enough to 

 have crushed any of us to death. He was something more 

 than fourteen feet long. This species of snake is very 

 rare, and is much thicker, in proportion to his length, than 

 any other snake in the forest. A coulacanara fourteen 

 feet in length is as thick as a common boa of twenty-four. 

 On ascertaining the size of the snake, I retired slowly the 

 way I came. Aware that the day was on the decline, and 

 that the approach of night would be detrimental to the 

 dissection, a thought struck me that I could take him 

 alive. 



5. When I told this to the negroes, they begged and 

 entreated me to let them go for a gun and more force, as 

 they were sure the snake would kill some of us. But I had 

 been in search of a large serpent for years, and now, having 

 come up with one, it did not become me to turn soft. So, 

 taking the cutlass from one of the negroes, and ranging 

 them both behind me, I told them to follow me, and that 

 I would cut them down if they offered to fly. I smiled as 

 I said this, but they shook their heads in silence, and seemed 

 to have but a bad heart of it. 



6. When we got to the place, the serpent had not stirred, 

 but I could see nothing of his head. A species of woodbine 

 had formed a complete mantle over the fallen tree, almost 

 impervious to the rain or the rays of the sun. Probably he 

 had resorted to this sequestered place for a length of time, 

 as it bore the marks of ancient settlement. I now took my 



