THIRD JOURNEY. 



173 



Tliis species of snake is very rare, and mucli thicker, in 

 proportion to his length, than any other snake in the 

 forest. A Coulacanara of fourteen feet in length is as 

 thick as a common Boa of twenty-four. After skin- 

 ning this snake I could easily get my head into his 

 mouth, as the singular formation of the jaws admits of 

 wonderful extension. 



A Dutch friend of mine, by name Brouwer, killed a 

 boa, twenty-two feet long, with a pair of stag's horns in 

 his mouth : he had swallowed the stag, but could not 

 get the horns down : so he had to wait in patience with 

 that uncomfortable mouthful till his stomach digested 

 the body, and then the horns would drop out. In this 

 plight the Dutchman found him as he vfas going in his 

 canoe up the river, and sent a ball through his head. 



On ascertaining the size of the serpent which the 

 negro had just found, I retired slowly the way I came, 

 and promised four dollars to the negro who had shown 

 it to me, and one to the other who had joined us. 

 Aware that the day was on the decline, and that the 

 approach of night would be detrimental to the dissec- 

 tion, a thought struck me that I could take him alive. 

 I imagined, if I could strike him w^ith the lance behind 

 the head, and pin him to the ground, I might succeed 

 in capturing him. When I told this to the negroes, 

 they begged and entreated me to let them go for a gun 

 and bring more force, as they were sure the snake 

 would kill some of us. 



I had been at the siege of Troy for nine years, and it 

 would not do now to carry back to Greece, nil decimo 

 nisi dedecus anno.'' I mean, 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 a 



