620 



THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



in the British Zoological Grardens destroyed its keeper. la a fit of drunkenness, the 

 man, against express orders, took the reptile out of its cage, and placing its head 

 inside his waistcoat, allowed it to glide round his body. When it had emerged from 

 under his clothes on the other side, apparently in good humor, the keeper squeezed its 

 tail, when it struck him between his eyes. In twenty minutes his consciousness was 

 gone, and in less than three hours he was dead. As long as the cobra is in a quiet 

 mood, its neck is nowhere thicker than its head or other parts ; but as soon as it is 

 excited, it raises vertically the anterior part of its trunk, dilates the hood Dn each side 

 of the neck, which is curiously marked in the center in black and white, like a pair 

 of spectacles, and then swells out to double its former proportions, and advances 

 against the aggressor by the undulating motion of the tail. It is not only met with 

 in the cultivated grounds and plantations, but will creep into the ho uses and insinuate 

 itself among the furniture. This is the snake so frequently exhibited by the Indian 

 jugglers, who contrive by some unknown method to tame them so far that they will 

 perform certain movements in cadence, and dance to the sound of music, with 

 which the cobra seems much delighted, keeping time by a graceful motion of the head, 

 erecting about half its length from the ground and following the few simple notes of 

 the conjuror's flute with gentle curves like the undulating lines of a swan's neck. 



The Egyptian Haje {Naja Haje), a near relation of the Indian cobra, is most likely 

 the asp of ancient authors, which the celebrated Cleopatra chose as the instrument of 

 her death, to avoid figuring in the triumph of Augustus. Like the cobra, it inflates 

 its neck when in a state of excitement, and as it raises its head on being approached, 

 as if watchful for its safety, it was venerated by the ancient Egyptians as a symbol of 

 divinity, and as the faithful guardian of their fields. Divine honors have, however, 

 much more frequently been paid to the venomous snakes from the terror they inspire, 

 than from far-fetched notions of beneficence. The Cerastes, or horned-viper, one of 

 the most deadly serpents of the African deserts, is frequently exhibited by Egyptian 

 jugglers, who handle and irritate it with impunity : they are supposed to render them- 

 selves invulnerable by the chewing of a certain root, but most likely, as in the case 

 of the cobra-charmers, their secret consists in their courage and perfect knowledge of 

 the animal's nature. 



Although the Boas and Pythons are unprovided with venomous fangs, yet.^rom 

 their enormous size, they may well be ranked among the deadly snakes ; for, as 

 Waterton justly remarks, "it comes to nearly the same thing in the end whether the 

 victim dies by poison from the fangs, which corrupts his blood and makes it stink 

 horribly, or whether his body be crushed to mummy and swallowed by a Python." 

 The kingly Jiboya {Boa- constrictor) inhabits the dry and sultry localities of the Bra- 

 zilian forests, where he generally conceals himself in crevices and hollows in parts but 

 little frequented by man, and sometimes attains a length of thirty feet. To catch his 

 prey he ascends the trees, and lurks, hidden in the foliage, for the unfortunate agutis, 

 pacas, and capybaras, whom their unlucky star may lead within his reach. When 

 full-grown he seizes the passing deer ; but in spite of his large size he is but little feared 

 by the natives, as a single blow of a cudgel suffices to kill him. Prince Maximilian 

 of Neu Wied tells us that the experienced hunter laughs when asked whether the 

 Jiboya attacks and devours man. 



The Sucuriaba, Anaconda, or Water Boa {Eunectes murinus), as it is variously 



