New-York tribune., 1841-10-27
Translates from t4ie spanish
THE YELLOW SERPENT-DlScOvER OF THE
81. NO pI.ANr

One hundred and hfty years since r7ui4,;o
slave followed the current If the Os:aoco. in the
vicinity OF Ggycna. and not far from ihr place
where that riy@r empires into the Atlantic Ocean.
Wandering by chance many DAYS in those hot
regions, rhe slave travelled with the ubeasaes. and
cau,isn OF man who, in the midst OF sayaanah-
Astounding II poisonous reptiles. believes he might
rs; his foot. when least expected on ;he ,caly
BODY Of serpent. He examined with much care
every tee; each thickct OF hraZ1oles appeared 10
him "a many shelters for Wild beasts. wh re- ea'-
me- the color OF which might be ccn:oludsd - i'm
the foliage. lay in ambush.
Suddenly he paused: he cast hinse upon the
rrourd aud pressed the earth even tie iol-,s OF
h., limbs Without motion. relying on the Indian
ig-;rec as the only de.eace, ne awaited ta- result
of what h, saw Without the conyulsiy- irem-
bling which agta;cd his BODY, uny one would have
beeved that pc wa' dead
He had lust seen the most terrible # all the
serpents, whose race i vet found IN those regions
Il was not certainly m nstro=s anin,al-one Of
those col5ssa! reptiles which, wnen sleeping on The
banks Of Il river, or in the dense woods, presents
20 the traveller the aspect OF the trunk of tree.
thrown TO the ground b. Tempest.
Neither did it possess the gigantic proportions
which the European people much admire when
hey contemplate the skins stuffed with straw Of
sorse OF tn, kings of Ohio
1t was the yellow Serpent.
Whoever has seen it, Bitterness and examined
liz thin body could not tejeyc thar 20 wcao a
reptile could Kill partridge although i, bite will
Iii. a man in such mann-r that, the wound being
made. death cn,ucs in less than three Minutes.
The slave knew it and trembied
His inro5ili'y va, complete For the whole
American empire he would not have dared 10 raise
IN, ewes He would have given ten years Of his
life 10 have found himself ur from such frshttuI
enemy. Neither did the -crpent move. Raised m
in hi. coil he overlooked the grass of the -ayan-
nan, with hi> head dotted with spots OF the color
of ochre, Of ,eiIo~ ana orang'; lis eyes, Ike vel
vet and blue as thu clouds otthat region, spara!cd
and appeared to ctait ,parkes ot fire ike brilliant
stone. He brca,hed the air with voluptucusncss
ard offered, liitc by lttle every Part Of his body
II the burning rays OF the ,uo.
Tor mar ignora. D. the 4 niger to stop in the
proximity of Ibis reptile, it would be rea! plea
sure to costemplatc its delicatcncss the EXPRESSION
of lis eyes, and the grace Of its movements. The
serpent did not delay long in beginning 70 leap.
drawing in the All rapid circles, producing weak
sound like silk coming in contact with wall. The
saye trcmbled more and more, when he ari a
strange noise which he believed came from the
grass, which shook with force. His Imagination
presented entire family of serpeurs, ready TO
cast themselves upon him. Fear obliged II m to
enlarge hi. sight. What was his aston,hment on
seeing thai the serpent sustained aterr;5e contest
with bird lie then knew rha, ms life was not
threaten cd ans, blessed Heaven in the sequel dis
posing him to aee whcR. seeing that the reptile
had los. the erra part of Its visor, nc wished
be present at the end OF that strange combat.
His post wa, not now dangerous, and curiosity
Detained him.
The combat continued with fcrociy The bird
kept in constant motion his sharp iacns, ard
wounded the serpent deeply with hi. pointed beak.
The serpent, beng much exasperatcd, dragged
Itself through the grass, and divided The al, in all
directions appealing 10 its whole force aud cum
ming, throwing himself toward the river to avoid
the blows of his enemy. But the bird followed
him II the air without stopping bctwrcs the grass.
to the brink OF the river and attacked him each
time with renewed rage.
Only now and then the bird grated The serpent
2 kind Of truce 1t LETT the place of combat COW
cred with blood, and flew with rapidly 20 a shrub
near by. he picked some OF the leaves. and swal-
lowed with haste some pieces of bark ct; the same
tree. and returned to the attack with tne Creates,
courage.
The slave observed all and could not conceive
how il that the serpent was almost dead. AND
the bird full OF life in spite OF having his body
cred with wounds He asked himself what spe-
cics of bid was venomovs enough to kill the yellow
serpent: he was lost in conjecture. md believed
himself to be in dream.
No doubt remained the serpent lay withou,
motion, being dead The bird also was cast down
his wings hung down and his respiration Wa.
painu; he made an effort. flew toward the shrlh.
eat some OF the leaves with singular vorac.ty,
shook hi. wings and returned to the lie d of ba-tt
he rested u short time on the dead body Of the
serpent, eleanng hi, bloody bea; on his plunics.
and. causing the air to r->ound with shout of iov,
directed his flight ioward-the South.
1t was beautiful morning in autumn the I.co-
pie hurried with much confusion to the pu5lic
square. This was arranged in the same manner
that we see ours to-day at the bu-bultng> liz.
multitude occnried all the steps and >oatS. and a
military band executed popular mssic before what
might be called the steps OF the Governor.
The Governor did no, cause them to vair long.
profound silence rcisned. 4 man approached
a Inc. the centre Of the square. pushing wi;h bis
hands a cas.. which he rolled to HE same rlace-
This man also carried on his left shoulder port
m4n,eau He was the mulatto slave OF tie Dino
ca. He sal.ted the people, opened the ,aca. and
took out Colu5ar.
TWAS al innocent reptile. friend of the hird-
and frequently met with in the walks and yards =
The people began 10 mss. and it was only after
much trouble tina; rier re-establShed. The
slave threw away the Co,ubar with disdain. and
made gesture that he would explain the circum-
stance
This j. an intrusive reptile and was here with
out my knowledge
He turned to open his por;man;eau and drew out
a black serpent, whose bite occasions cruel pains
without causing death. The public exfecled some
thing more they were no; disappointed
The slave barred hi, Ief, arm. and drew to IT ;h4
head OF the serpent. which Immediately caused ne
blood to flow
The slave placed the manteau which wa. full Of