NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



541 



length a bait of some sort became absolutely necessary, and we were 

 fortunate in obtaining, at the hut of a negro, a few patties made of 

 Palmetto, which a little addition of seasoning, together with the sauce 

 of hunger, rendered palatable. As the sun declined, we again pursued 

 our way, and soon killed two snakes, one of which seemed to me singular 

 in having arched and sharp vertebrae near the neck. The only instance 

 of the kind which I ever observed, and owing possibly to some wound 

 which the reptile might have received. It was about six feet long, and, if 

 I may be allowed to judge from its appearance, was venomous. On my 

 further progress downward, 1 had, as frequently before, an instance of 

 the muscular power of the snake. One of these reptiles was crossing the 

 road, a few yards before my horse ; in an instant, it reared itself and 

 stood erect upon a small single coil of its tail, fiercely looked at the 

 horse, hissed in anger and slid away. Some of our older Engravers have 

 represented the Arch-fiend in this position, when tempting Eve ; perhaps 

 modern ones have thought it an unnatural one, and for that reason may 

 have preferred to represent him like a Boa Constrictor, and place his coils 

 round the trunk of the Tree of Life. It is happy for mankind, that these 

 disgusting creatures have not the power of darting themselves forward, 

 nor of retaining their erect position long ; but their motion in rising is 

 astonishingly rapid. 



A friend, on whose judgment I rely with great confidence, is 

 inclined to place in this class of reptiles another, which afterwards fell 

 in my way. It was dead, and appeared to have perished during 

 the night, from the quantity of rain which had fallen. It evidently 

 had possessed the power of extending and contracting its length, and most 

 probably moved by so doing. From this circumstance. I had called it a 

 worm, and not a snake. It was of a dirty blue colour, and measured 

 in its contracted state eighteen inches long and two and a half round. 



Long after it was dark, having been sixteen hours on horseback, 

 and travelled about forty-two miles, we reached the miserable hut of St. 

 Vincente ; and finding no accommodation there, went forward to a large 

 house, where we saw the master, were absolutely refused admittance 



