CHAPTER XII. 



SNAKES 



Fatima, Selima, Geeat Peter. 



I HAVE no doubt that many readers will 

 pass over this chapter, for to many the 

 very word "snake" causes a shudder. But 

 those who do will lose not only three excellent 

 stories, but an opportunity of hearing some 

 really interesting facts about these creatures 

 which have been gathered by actual personal 

 observation. 



In the New York Zoological Park there ar- 

 rived one day at the Reptile House a huge 

 snake over twenty feet long and of about the 

 thickness of a man's thigh. It was packed 

 coil upon coil in a four-foot crate, and had 

 been there for over three months without food 

 or water. It was a most beautiful creature; 

 the body was covered with a rich Oriental 

 pattern in brilliant and iridescent colors, and 

 partly for this reason Mr. Raymond L. Dit- 



