280 



ON SNAKES. 



Eomantic and absurd assertion ! I myself have 

 been for weeks together, in those swamps of the 

 river Oroonoko ; — not merely in an Indian canoe, 

 nor under the protecting canopy of a planter s tent- 

 boat, but absolutely barefooted, and up to the 

 knees in water, ranging in anxious expectation, 

 with little fear of danger. The leeches, larger 

 than those of Europe, were troublesome at times ; 

 for they took a fancy to my legs, and caused me to 

 keep a sharp look out. But, as for snakes, I seldom 

 saw them : so, I concluded, that their carrying on 

 " an unceasing war against all other animals, and 

 their clinging amongst the branches of the trees, 

 in infinite numbers," was an imaginary thing 

 which had no existence, saving in the productive 

 brain of him who had given us the strange account. 



Again, we have stories as old as the hills over 

 whioh we roam, of snakes sucking cows, and 

 passing the night in ladies' bedrooms, so that they 

 might conveniently obtain a supper on human 

 milk. 



Believe me, such absurdities as these, deserve no 

 credit, — and they only tend, to mar our history 

 of the serpent family. No serpent has ever yet 

 been discovered, or ever will be discovered with 

 a mouth so formed as to enable it, to suck the teats 

 of cows, or breasts of women. 



