188 
WANDERINGS IN 
THIRD 
JOURNEY 
Goes in 
search of 
a snake. 
an armadillo : and lie had his little dog with him. 
On coming back, about noon, the dog began to bark 
at the root of a large tree, which had been upset by 
the whirlwind, and was lying there in a gradual state 
of decay. The negro said, he thought his dog was 
barking at an acouri, which had probably taken 
refuge under the tree, and he went up with an in¬ 
tention to kill it; he there saw a snake, and hastened 
back to inform me of it. 
The sun had just past the meridian in a cloudless 
sky; there was scarcely a bird to be seen, for the 
winged inhabitants of the forest, as though overcome 
by heat, had retired to the thickest shade : all would 
have been like midnight silence, were it not for the 
shrill voice of the pi-pi-yo, every now and then 
resounded from a distant tree. I was sitting with a 
little Horace in my hand, on what had once been 
the steps which formerly led up to the now moul¬ 
dering and dismantled building. The negro and his 
little dog came down the hill in haste, and I was 
soon informed that a snake had been discovered; 
but it was a young one, called the Bush-master, a 
rare and poisonous snake. 
I instantly rose up, and laying hold of the eight- 
foot lance, which was close by me, u Well then, 
Daddy,” said I, u we’ll go and have a look at the 
snake.” I was barefoot, with an old hat, and check 
shirt, and trowsers on, and a pair of braces to keep 
them up. The negro had his cutlass, and as we 
ascended the hill, another negro, armed with a cut¬ 
lass, joined us, judging, from our pace, that there 
