J 56 NATURAL HISTORY READER. 



faction would take place before morning, so I concluded to 

 put him into a very strong bag which I had brought with 

 me, and keep him alive till daylight. After securing his 

 mouth afresh, we forced him into the bag, and left him to 

 his fate. 



12. I can not say that he allowed mo to have a very 

 quiet night. My hammock was in the loft just above 

 him, and the floor between us had half gone to decay. 

 He was very restless and fretful ; and, had Medusa been 

 my wife, there could not have been more disagreeable hiss- 

 ing in my bed-chamber that night. At daybreak I bor- 

 rowed ten negroes to assist in taking him out of the bag. 

 We held him down by main force until I killed him. By 

 six in the evening he was completely dissected. On examin- 

 ing his teeth, I observed that they were all bent like tenter- 

 hooks, pointing down his throat, and not large or strong ; but 

 they are exactly suited to what they are intended by nature 

 to perforin. The snake does not masticate his food, and 

 thus the only service his teeth have to perform is to seize 

 the prey and hold it till he swallows it alive. 



13. During this fray my old negro, Daddy Quashi, was 

 absent, and returned just in time to help me take off the 

 skin. He had a particular horror for snakes, and the next 

 week I had an opportunity to put this weakness to the test. 

 Having left my umbrella in the forest, I took Daddy Quashi 

 to help me look for it. While he was searching about. I 

 came to the scene of my late conflict, and in an old timber 

 path I observed a young coulacanara, ten feet long, slowly 

 moving onward ; I saw he was not thick enough to break 

 my arm in case he got twisted around it. There was not a 

 moment to be lost. I laid hold of his tail with my left 

 hand ; with my right I took off my hat, and held it as you 

 would hold a shield for defense. 



14. The snake instantly turned and came on to me, 

 with his head about a yard from the ground, as if to ask 



