194 
WANDERINGS IN 
THIRD 
JOURNEY, 
Kills and 
dissects 
the 
Snake. 
thus would be prevented from making a hole through 
it. I say fixed, for after the mouth of the bag was 
closed, the bag itself was not fastened or tied to any 
thing, but moved about wherever the animal inside 
caused it to roll. After securing afresh the mouth of 
the coulacanara, so that he could not open it, he was 
forced into this bag, and left to his fate till morning. 
I cannot say he allowed me to have a quiet night. 
My hammock was in the loft just above him, and 
the floor betwixt us, half gone to decay, so that in 
parts of it no boards intervened betwixt his lodging- 
room and mine. He was very restless and fretful; 
and had Medusa been my wife, there could not have 
been more continued and disagreeable hissing in the 
bed-chamber that night. At day-break, I sent to 
borrow ten of the negroes who were cutting wood at 
a distance ; I could have done with half that number, 
but judged it most prudent to have a good force, in 
case he should try to escape from the house when we 
opened the bag. However, nothing serious occurred. 
We untied the mouth of the bag, kept him down 
by main force, and then I cut his throat. He bled 
like an ox. By six o’clock the same evening, he 
was completely dissected. On examining his teeth, 
I observed that they were all bent like tenter¬ 
hooks, pointing down his throat, and not so large or 
strong as I expected to have found them ; but they 
are exactly suited to what they are intended by nature 
to perform. The snake does not masticate his food, 
and thus the only service his teeth have to perform is 
to seize his prey, and hold it till he swallows it whole. 
