40 
A NATURALIST ON THE PROWL. 
went one way nor another, nor lifted its head to strike. Yet 
not one of the natives would come near it. At last I seized 
it by the tail and began to haul it out into an open space, 
making a broad track among the dead leaves. A cry of 
utter horror rose from the villagers, but a Kiristan (i.e., a 
man who professes the Christian religion) came to my aid. 
Finally, as the writhing grew less violent, I persuaded the 
men to cut two poles and secure the slippery coils with 
tough vines, and so I brought home my spolia opima in 
triumphal procession. 
On the way I learned some things about the King Cobra 
which are not generally known. So swift is it that, when 
it pursues, escape by flight is impossible. When it has 
caught a man it swallows him whole, then, climbing a tree, 
it winds itself round the trunk and tightens its coils until 
the man is crushed all to nothing in its inside. Thus it 
digests him. Facts like these are becoming increasingly 
rare in books. You must glean them among the simple 
folk who spend their lives with the beasts of the field and 
from infancy hold converse with nature’s charms and view 
her stores unrolled. I have gathered many such, very 
wonderful and known to few. Another day perhaps I 
will give you some of them. 
