40 The Humming Bird. 



" Oh," said I, gasping, " I thought it was a great snake." 



" It is a snake," said my host, " but it is perfectly harmless, 

 except to rats. You will not find a house in this part of 

 Brazil without one. They keep the premises clear of rats. 

 Pedro won't hurt you." 



" But how am I going to get downstairs ?" I asked, 

 uneasily. 



" Oh, you can step over him." 



I declined, however, to make this attempt; whereupon a 

 servant came forward, and seizing the snake about the neck 

 with both hands, dragged it out into the yard. 



I saw that the creature, as he was extended, was not less 

 than four yards long and as thick as the arm of the negro 

 who dragged him out. 



Before I left the place I found out a great deal about the 

 giboias. They are a species of small boa-constrictor, and 

 are employed very generally in Brazil to catch rats. They 

 are inoffensive, apparently not at all venomous, and in 

 their domesticated condition perfectly tame. 



In [his habits Pedro was a good example of his race, 

 though he was of considerably larger size than the average. 

 All day long he slept somewhere in the house, generally at 

 the foot of the stairs. But when evening approached he 

 began to wake up, and after nightfall he glided swiftly 

 about the premises looking for rats. 



He even had holes which enabled him to get between 

 the floors and ceilings, and into the space within the parti- 

 tions. Whenever he found a rat he pounced upon him, 

 wrapped him in his folds, and carried him out of the house, 

 leaving him dead. The servants told me that the backbone 

 of every rat he caught was broken in at least a dozen places. 



As to me, I preferred the rats to the snake, and took good 

 care that my chamber-door was shut at night, and that 

 there were no holes left open in the ceiling or the floor from 

 which Pedro might emerge into my apartment. 



He never seemed to eat the rats ; indeed, I never saw 

 him eat anything at all. The negroes said he killed the 

 the rats for the fun of it. 



I afterwards saw the giboias for sale in the markets of 

 Pernambuco and Bahia at prices ranging from four to ten 

 shillings. I was told that they easily become domesticated 

 to such an extent that if they are removed from one house 

 to another they invariably return to the house from which 

 they have been taken. 



In the country, therefore, the rat-snake goes with the 

 house, and if you have occasion to purchase or hire a 

 residence, the proprietor will brag about the virtues and 

 skill of the giboia. 



