184 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 



Anecdotes of rattlesnakes are very nume- 

 rous, but it would swell this little work to a 

 greater extent than contemplated to relate 

 any of them ; however, I have a promise from 

 a person in that country to acquaint me if he 

 can ascertain anything to be depended upon 

 respecting the viviparous birth of the young 

 occasioning the mother's death. 



The next snake I would mention is, I 

 believe, one of the most deadly, if not the most 

 deadly poisonous snake in the world. The 

 Cobra Oapella, or any of the Eastern snakes, 

 gives a man, after he has bitten him, time to 

 make a short will, and if a Roman Catholic, 

 to confess himself, if he can find a priest j 

 but the Coral gives no such time. Should g 

 man be bitten, he falls almost immediately ; 

 his blood curdles into a thick coagulated 

 state, and he dies in a very short time, 

 becoming putrid soon. 



The Coral snake is of a red coral colour, 

 with rings of some other colour round the 

 body; these rings are of the same colour in 

 the same snake ; but, if ten were together, 

 perhaps each would have different coloured 

 rings, though the ground colour would be the 

 same in all, red. The Coral is also differently 

 formed from most snakes : the body is of an 



