1848.] 



BOA CONSTRICTOR. 



33 



^coming down to Para, and thus seriously checked the trade of 

 the province. A law had now been passed (in consequence 

 of the repeated complaints of the authorities here, frightening 

 the Government with the prospect of another revolution), 

 forbidding enlistment in the province of Para for fifteen years ; 

 so we may now hope to be free from any disturbances which 

 might have arisen from this cause. 



Nothing impressed me more than the quiet and orderly 

 state of the city and neighbourhood. No class of people carry 

 knives or other weapons, and there is less noise, fighting, or 

 drunkenness in the streets both day and night, than in any 

 town in England of equal population. When it is remembered 

 that the population is mostly uneducated, that it consists of 

 slaves, Indians, Brazilians, Portuguese, and foreigners, and 

 that rum is sold at every corner at about twopence per pint, it 

 says much for the good-nature and pacific disposition of the 

 people. 



August '^rd. — We received a fresh inmate into our verandah 

 in the person of a fine young boa constrictor. A man who 

 had caught it in the forest left it for our inspection. It was 

 tightly tied round the neck to a good-sized stick, which 

 hindered the freedom of its movements, and appeared nearly 

 to stop respiration. It w^as about ten feet long, and very 

 large, being as thick as a man's thigh. Here it lay writhing 

 about for two or three days, dragging its clog along with it, 

 sometimes stretching its mouth open with a most suspicious 

 yawn, and twisting up the end of its tail into a very tight curl. 

 At length we agreed with the man to purchase it for two 

 milreis (4^. 6^.), and having fitted up a box with bars at the 

 top, got the seller to put it into the cage. It immediately 

 began making up for lost time by breathing most violently, the 

 expirations sounding like high-pressure steam escaping from a 

 Great Western locomotive. This it continued for some hours, 

 making about four and a half inspirations per minute, and 

 then settled down into silence, which it afterwards maintained, 

 unless when disturbed or irritated. 



Though it was without food for more than a week, the 

 birds we gave it were refused, even when alive. Rats are 

 said to be their favourite food, but these we could not procure. 

 These serpents are not at all uncommon, even close to the 

 city, and are considered quite harmless. They are caught by 



