212 
A NATURALIST ON THE PROWL. 
still. Why do snakes have those foolish tongues at all? 
I cannot think of any purpose which the absurd instru- 
ment can serve. As a symbol it is perfect. If I were 
a painter and my subject the Old Serpent, who is the 
father of lies, whispering into the yet innocent ear 
of the mother of all living, just such an oily, double 
tongue would I give him. But the Green Snake was not 
created to be a symbol. All modern science is opposed 
to such an idea. Let its tongue pass for the present. 
There it lay, a beautiful creature, as green as grass, 
nearly three feet long and shaped like the thong of a 
lady’s hunting crop. Its head was very long and narrow, 
with a peculiarly sharp snout, and its eye large and 
bright, with a cross bar for a pupil. What does it feed on ? 
Its throat is scarcely thicker than a goosequill just now, 
but what it can stretch to I dare not say. I have lately 
seen a photograph of a python coiled round a large Black- 
faced Monkey. The monkey was in articulo mortis , his 
countenance passing from pain into the placid sadness 
of death, and the python was wound about him, with its 
grim head resting coldly on his shoulder. The picture 
was not a fancy one. The python was found in that 
position, not very far from where I now am. 
