SOUTH AMERICA. 



185 



defend himself from what he considers an attack upon Third 



Journey, 



him, makes the intruder feel the deadly effect of his 

 poisonous fangs. The Jaguar flies at you, and knocks 

 you senseless with a stroke of his paw ; whereas, if you 

 had not come upon him too suddenly, it is ten to one 

 but that he had retired, in lieu of disputing the path with 

 you. The Labarri snake is very poisonous, and I have 

 often approached within two yards of him without fear. 

 I took care to move very softly and gently without moving 

 my arms, and he always allowed me to have a fine view 

 of him, without showing the least inclination to make a 

 spring at me. He would appear to keep his eye fixed on 

 me, as though suspicious, but that was all. Sometimes 

 I have taken a stick ten feet long, and placed it on the 

 Labarri' s back. He would then glide away without 

 offering resistance. But when I put the end of the 

 stick abruptly to his head, he immediately opened his 

 mouth, flew at it, and bit it. 



One day, wishful to see how the poison comes out of Catches n 



live Labarri 



the fang of the snake, I caught a Labarri alive. He was snake. 

 about eight feet long. I held him by the neck, and my 

 hand was so near his jaw, that he had not room to move 

 his head to bite it. This was the only position I could 

 have held him with safety and eflect. To do so, it only 

 required a little resolution and coolness. I then took a 

 small piece of stick in the other hand, and pressed it 

 against the fang, which is invarial)ly in the upper jaw. 



2 B 



