Show T THE U LT L T TWO W 0 asa ANA C 01 D A AS S before leavin leaving g the tho subject of pythons a few words must muo be said about the the most a and i fluge dangerous fadge rous of all p th 0 nathe hugo huge dark aud and almost i nn 1 dense central and south le al america these are far more common bommon tb than abt aft is generally supposed by aho nho those se are not familiar with those regions and but for the great difficulties wh which N I 1 have mentioned aa to ta taking these monsters alive there is no reason leason why wr boblo zoological ical leal gardens gardena not bot possess some half a dozen specimens these american boas an are greatly dreaded by the natives and not without reason they haunt tho the pools where cattle drink or twine when watching for prey in the branches of the forest their boldness is 13 13 well supported by their prodigious strength there are not instances dinst nees aces of specimens having been killed which had attained a lee len length galhn of off more than thirty feet and which in some parts were as thick round as the body of a child the endless tales which are related of their daring in killing men women and child children reh reb of course partake somewhat of the marvellous marcellous marv ellous but there is too much reason to believe that the stories when stripped of all native exaggeration contain the terrible basis of truth that many human beings have been killed by these monsters one peculiarity about the anaconda is that it is said to be always found hunting bunting in couples coupled cou ples plea this fact is undoubtedly deposed to by allabe ahe natives and all ail alithe the europeans who have had any opportunity of learning anything about the habits of these gigantic serpents even waterton one of the most careful of natural historians and one most mott thoroughly versed in the deadly of these regions I 1 admit that when n the mali mail anaconda is s een seen the female is seldom far distant and vice versa A terrible tale has been told me in connection with these great serpents for its authenticity I 1 do not vouch myself but it certainly is if not true not only possible but from what I 1 know of the snakes even perhaps able abie ab leIt it was related to me by a brazilian genteman ot 0 high position and add in the presence genbe bf two others who had also heard the story and were ready to vouch for its accuracy certainly it seems accepted in the wilder part parts s of f brazel as a tradition of frontier i ilfe life llo ilo a simply this and aa as it 0 occurred q more than thail foty fouty years yearb ago there canue cabbe 1 6 hd no reason torf corf concealing con coaling names k irne irre li were n not ot to concealed ilke lake aleI alel from me ind mr barclay an english gentleman who a comfortable independence tn a mlp mip 1 ink speculation oni determined after some years residence to settle in the brazils with this end in view he bought and formed a large tract of almost land on the extreme northwest north west frontier and pursued his clearing and farming with great success and tolerable prof profit it and what is more with a certain prospect of much greater profit to come in in time he gave himself nims nima elf eif after a time a short leave b rab fab absence sence tand and came back J to asb where he married with whom he again h iain returned ned to his plantation in brazil during his abi sence and according to his instructions a neat light wooden residence such as are built on all plantations had been erected un the midst of the tl clearing earing with ith a lofty verandah round it to keep the rooms cool and french windows froni from the apartments to the ground still young mrs barclay though surrounded with every comfort was very tar yar from being quite happy for she was constitutionally constitution ally aily in terror of oi the repulsive and tremendous looking lookin i insects und and reptiles with which all t the a wilder parts of brazil literally abound she could not go to a drawee drawer without finding in it a centipede as large as a little eel or oj open an a cupboard without me meeting ting with a spider alm aim almost as larkens a small crab lizards lizarda of beautiful colors 1 but repulsive appearance had to be swept out of thel bedroom at night these The seare are harmless enough but there are few people who would care to wake up and nind find them crawling over their faces or to hear their long nails clat elat clattery clattering teri terl in alon aion along tile the wooden floor the climate climate to too 0 told on mrs ba relays health the re reptiles P by day mosquitoes and by night made wide her unusually susceptible of irrl tation and alarm but lot lyt all her hon hoc bore rore the greatest she entertained was yas that against snakes and serpents of all kinds this was ineradicable from her nature and was in fact as much a part of her nature as the overwhelming antipathies antipa thies some ladies feel to the sight of a rat a spider or a bull unfortunately mrs barclay lived in a part art of the country which was infested infester ester esteg with snake some bome harm leas leaa some deadly but wi ether h armless harmless or deadly the unconquerable terror terron she evinced was the saine saihe same to all s attl atti boba in and d deadly headly snake was killed in her house at another time a coral snake the most beautiful and most quickly deadly of all the tho venomous reptile God has created was found and killed with ease upon the rough lawn if we may dignify by such a term the short brown burnt up herbage alch which surrounded the hause at another time a small smail apao apac anaconda ada about eleven ellve 4 fo the woods nett near the th house I 1 busei adda aria dd killed and what wasi ouch much it worse constant lumers were erg erb thought in lit gnat two very much larger catger serpents of the thel same blass class had bad been beell forest adt far off poor mrs barclays Bar clays terrors were not aimini diminished shed by the exaggerated tales tale taie i of hr native servants tili till till at length they iose lose rose to such a pitch apitsch that 14 it seemed very likely as bhe she often sa said baid ad that he 0 die if if a serpent gaine paine came near her her fearigo fears go got to such a height that at last she would not venture venturo out at all and actually kept her room in iu this frame of mind it will easily he be bei lieveld that her life was a misery to herself and not of much comfort to her wild fearnaught fear naught husband early one summer morning the latter went to look after the progress of some rather distant clearings he was I 1 making of course he hb went on horseback and of course he carried with him the heavy old oid fashioned ed ad musket without which in that i time and in those wild regions no planter ever evor stirred far abroad both i the barrels were loaded with a heavy charge of slugs puff lelent to bring down I 1 a deer if one came near enough or bett better erstill still to scare away or stop the charge of a jaguar or tree panther mr i barclays Bar clays purvey took him rather late and it was high in the noonday heat be ba fore he returned through a short belt of 1 forest which lay between his new clear r ings and his bis home at that time the tho tropical forests are as silent and as mo ti li onless as inthey if they were dead it was grouth through such a seene scene as this that mr Bari barclay elay clay rode on his return home and it was amid such stillness st that his attention was at once onee attracted to a large creper hanging from a tree treo ju n front of him and d which amid the deadly stilli ness aro around und was swinging quickly such signs in the forest are never to be disregarded and mr barclay was too old a woodsman not to be at once on the alert After walting waiting some minutes till the oscillation ceased beaded and being reassured by the quietness of his horse which would have been the first to scent a jag jaa jaguar u r or a puma acuma he road carefully towards ward the tree an and d ala aca little distance ex examined ami ned ir it but for some time in vain at last the cause of the disturbance jand and of the danger also became apparent on close inspection on a limb of the tree overlooking the path lay a huge black anaconda piled in great masses fold over fold as is its wont with the end of its tail tall just curled round the limb on which its great bulk rested and its head left free and elevated about two feet above the rest of its body in this position it was quite prepared for action and holding on by its tall tail could at onee once drop its great length down with rests rebis tle tie ss force foree on any unhappy animal or even eyen person that might pass below anat when once secured in its gigantic folds death was certain whet whether er to man or goat or deer or sheep mr air barclay however was not inclined to give it buch such a chaude chance as this on his ac count and waited quietly at a little distance till by some cautious ring he got a full view of or the creatures head a against ainest the bright blue sky then he fired and with one charge of slugs sa so shattered the 11 huge u r ome ole reptiles head that after writhing for a tingle moment it ame time in a FL long heap to the ground it was far from dead however and wildly so to that for a t time he be durst durse not approach it as it t lay knocking the beaves and branches mout agut aboltin in all directions atlant at last it lay still when he got a close shot with his second barrel and ana this so so completely the serpents head that it never moved beloved again like a cautious ever mr barclay did not feel secure till he ld had divided with his knife and not without great difficulty the vertebrae in in the centre odthe back the serpent measured nearly twenty nine feet in length and was evidently from its great thickness immensely pw powerful erful the only question which remained to the successful hunter was what was to be done with the carcase he was loth to leave it where it was besides he wanted its skin as what victor vietor victorious lous ious hunter does not and above all he wished to show mrs barclay how easily such seeming I 1 monsters could be killed not unnaturally then though in an evil I 1 ho he determined to araa uni uri ia i aae aaa jeor for tb be he undid Ls lia stirrup leather ieather and making it fast over the bod head 0 ot the snake led d his horse borse along which as it towed tha a deep mark in the herbage A and nd sometimes times a trail of blood on the grass over which the carcase was dra dragged aged As he advanced var vat iced with the huge hugg reptile tr hilbig it lt his Is heels bome some evil genius gidius put it into anto his head bad that now wasa nine fine ta give mrs barclay a lesson that would cure curd her of bf her ur fear of serpents he never seems seema to have thought of the matter unkindly or to entertain i for a moment an joea idea that her comans womans nature would not as soon and easily get i over its reau repugnance nanci to these reptiles as hes hei hein hoin in his wil wild drough rough anre ife life alad had easily ealy been enabled to do there is is no doubt but that nothing more than thail a pugh practical joke entered hia hla lili iiii this was perhaps the only kind kina of lo 10 joke kp the point of which he was capable of perceiving his simple plan of mischief was soon laid he deter determined mined to talethe take the serpent inta the house I 1 and coil it in the sitting aliling room in suc sue such it a manner wanner as that its wounded parts could easily be hidden he dragged it therefore with some trouble along the verandah and soon managed to coil away its great folds in such a way that its injuries were hidden denand hid and it looked indeed as if alive when all had been quietly arranged by y bim him himself self seif he went out and called for a servant to fetch down her mistress who as is the custom of the country was sleeping outtie out the greatheart grea great heat theat of the day in her 6 own wn room little suspecting what was to follow she came down at once and the instant she entered the room mr barclay slipped out and fastened the door behind him what passed afterwards can only be guessed with horror her screams of rested messed T the h serpent the serpent lff Iff were at first so shrill and loud as to quite drown mr barclays Bar claya clays calls at her that the reptile was dead and that she must mus t look at it quietly and he was wag only fi first alarmed by a noise of struggling and the piercing cries of some half a dozen female servants who drawn by the shrieks of their mistress had entered the room by another door what they saw on entering was mrs barclay attacked by a huge anaconda which had followed up the broad tr track aek ack left by the body of its slaughtered mate the instant their cries alarmed it it rolled tolled baek back its folds through the window by i which it had entered mrs barclay was found insensible and only slightly torn about the face and partly on t the be bosom by the fangs of the th 6 boa she was quite insensible however and never rallied in spite of all restoratives restora tives she remained in a comatose state stata till the succeeding day when convulsion succeeded convulsion till her death lett left mr barclay A a widower and the parent of a stillborn still born child den ser serpents depts and venomous snakes |