HOW I LOST MY BOA CONSTRICTOR. 



E. J. RANDALL. 



A little over 2 years ago I was a stock- 

 raiser in Paraguay, S. A. There were, at 

 that time, only 22 Americans and about 300 

 Englishmen in the entire country and 

 among these there were few ladies whom 

 my wife could call friends or acquaintances. 

 She had little to do or to interest her: so 

 she grew uneasy and homesick, and finally 

 persuaded me to sell my stock and return 

 home. 



Previous to this I had moved my stock 

 to an island, in the middle of the Paraguay 

 river, which island was a sort of " no- 

 man's-land." I applied to the proper au- 

 thorities and, with the aid of influential 

 men, succeeded in securing, from the Gov- 

 ernment, a 10 years' concession for the use 

 of the island. As soon as I had secured 

 the document which gave me possession 

 of the island, I employed a number of extra 

 peons and carts and in a few days, with 

 their help and that of a sail-boat, I suc- 

 ceeded in getting all my cattle and 127 

 hogs to the island. 



At low water the island contained about 

 5,000 acres of good pasture and timber 

 land. I had no near neighbors whom my 

 hogs could molest, so it was an ideal place 

 for hog raising. As soon as each boat- 

 load was brought to the island I turned 

 them adrift. They had formerly been fed 

 in pens. For a day or 2 they were con- 

 stantly seen about the camp; but as we 

 did not feed them they soon disappeared. 

 Sometimes I saw them in groups, when 

 hunting, as that was a favorite pastime as 

 well as a part of the business, in that coun- 

 try. After spending a year in this way, we 

 moved to Ascension, the capital. Every 

 Monday I either rode or walked down to 

 the island, 15 miles away. I stayed 3 or 4 

 days, with the peon and his family whom I 

 left in charge of the island, and then spent 

 the rest of the week in the city. 



About January the river commenced to 

 rise. My gauge, at the camp, showed a 

 rise of ^4 to one inch each day. I ex- 

 pected every time I examined the gauge to 

 see that the water was at a standstill, or 

 beginning to recede: but no such thing 

 occurred. Each day there was a steady rise. 

 The water was fast covering my land, and 

 by the first of February my 5,000 acres had 

 been reduced to 500. I soon saw the ne- 

 cessity of getting off my stock. I again 

 employed a number of natives, and some 

 rowboats. and succeeded in getting my cat- 

 tle to the mainland. The hogs had become 



very wild; but as the island was now small 

 we soon became expert in catching them. 

 When a hog was caught, we bound his 

 legs together and finally, amid squeals and 

 squirms, he was lifted on a pole and laid 

 carefully in the bottom of the boat. 



At sundown, on the third day, I was re- 

 turning to the mainland with what I 

 thought our last load. We passed a small 

 island which I soon discovered I had not 

 examined. I ordered the rowers to turn 

 in, let me go ashore and see what the island 

 looked like. 



I had not gone far when I encountered 

 a sow and 3 half grown pigs. Returning 

 to the boat I told the boys of their " men- 

 tira." It was so late we decided to wait 

 until morning and then return for the 

 sow. 



Early the following morning we were on 

 our way to the island, which was almost 

 submerged, so that we had to wade and 

 splash about. At length we found the sow 

 and 2 of the pigs. The third one was miss- 

 ing. I was sure I saw 3 the night before. 

 While we were searching for it, I heard my 

 companions call "Bebra! Bebra!" (snake). 

 I saw them jumping, one after another, 

 over its body as it crept slowly across our 

 path. I could not see its head or tail on 

 account of the tall grass. 



I soon discovered that it had formed it- 

 self into an immense coil beside the path. 

 I restrained the men, who were very anx- 

 ious to attack it with their machetes. 



Here was a good chance to get a large, 

 fine, perfect skin. I had already killed 3 

 boa constrictors, during my stay in the 

 country, but none so large as this. 



At first I intended to shoot it. Then I 

 thought I would not mar the skin with a 

 bullet, but would club it. I gave it a crush- 

 ing blow, when it began to move and I fol- 

 lowed it up with more frequent blows, 

 striking harder and harder; but all in vain. 

 The monster glided from me and disap- 

 peared in the dense jungle. 



The boys, who stood on the other side, 

 said they plainly saw a swelling in the mid- 

 dle of the snake's body. I suppose that was 

 where the third pig went — at least we never 

 found it nor saw the snake again. I was 

 sorry then, and have been ever since, I did 

 not shoot the snake. The last boa I killed 

 was such an easy victim I had concluded 

 they were all easy to kill. In that case I 

 had killed the snake, outright, by hitting 

 it on the head with a clod of dirt. 



