The Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1849-1855, 1851-10-30
A Battle with Snakes.

relating 10 serpents seams TO have acquired
additional interest Many facts Regarding
the nature and habits OF the various specie.
have been published, afforcling much inlor-
mation and still greater asIonshment
Waterion, in his "Wanderings in South
| America and the Antilles, in 1912 "a % re-
lates some stories Of SO marvellous a char
acter, that, coming fiom a less autheDlic
source, their truth might reasonably be
doubted.
While in the region Of the Mibiri Hill
\ MIR. Waterton long sought in vain for n ser
pent Of large size. and finally offered n
reward to the negroes ii they would find him
one. A few days afterwards, one Of the
natives, followed 10y his litile dog, came "a
him with the information that snake OF
Respectable slisneesipns had been discovered!
short distance upihe bill; and armed with
! an eight foot lance, and accompanied hy
two negroes with cutlasses, and the dog he
at once started to take n look at il. MIR
Waterloo states that he was barefoot, with
an old hat. check shirt and trowSers on, aud
a pair of braces TO keep them Up. His
snakeship was pointed out lying at the root
OF large tree which had been torn up by
whlriwind. But the remainder Of the story
shall he given in the travellers own words :
utihtN ui1 ~ iDt tldCe SLOW ana
cautiously. The snake was well concealed,
but at last made him out; it WAS a coula-
canara, not poIs )nous, but large enough to
! have crushed any of us TO death. On meas
uring hun afterwards, he was something
) more than fourteen feet long This species
Of snake Is very rare, aud much thicker in
proportion to his length, than any other
snake in The forest a couiacaaara Of four
teen feet IN length, Is as thick as a common
! boa OF twenry-four feet. After ,kinping
this snake, ! could easily get my head into
bis mouth, as the singular formation of the
jaws admits of wonderful extension
On ascertalnng The size of the serpent,
retired slowly the way came, AMI prom
ised four dollars 10 the negro who had
showed it to me, and one dollar to the other
! who had joined Us. Aware that the dav
was Oh the decline, and that the approach h
! Of night would be detrimental to the l!i.sec-
/ ton, a thought struck me that | could take
! him alive. imagined that it | couli Strik e
! him with the lance behind the heati, and Din
! him TO the ground, ! might succeed IN ca o.
turing him. When | told this 10 the ne
groeS, they begged aud entreated M, to let
them go for gun and bring more force. as
they we're sure the snake would kill some
Of u-.
Taking, however, n cuIiaSs from one of
the negroes, aud then ranging both of the 81
lie slaves behind me, | told them to follow
me, and that would cut them down if they
offered to fly. When we had got up to the
place, the serpent had not stirred; but !
could see nothing of his head, and Judged
by the folds OF his body, that il must be II,
the tilrthest side Of his den.
4 species of wooIhiIe formed Complete
Il
almost impervious TO the rain or the rays of
the sun. Probably he had re-orted TO th,
sequestered place for length Of time, as it
bore marks Of an ancient settlement.
/ now took my knife, determined to cut
away the woOdbine. and break the tmics in
the gentlest manner possible, ill could get
a view Of his bead One negro stood guard
close behind me with cutlass The cut
lass which had taken from the first negro
was OH the ground close Ivy me, in case of
need. After working in dead silence fer a
quarter Of an hour, with one knee all the
time on the ground | had cleared away
eyough 10 see his head. 1t appeared con-
ing hetwixt the first and second coil of his
body, and was flat on the ground. This
was the very position wished il to be in
rose in silence and retreated very slow
ly, making sign To the negros tn do the
same. The dog was sitting at distance in
mute observance. | could now read in the
faces of the negroes, that they considered
this very unpleasant affair; and they made
another vain attempt to persuade me to let
them so for a gun. ! smiled in good-na-
tured manner. AMI made n ftint 10 cut them
down with the weapon had in my hanL
This was ali the answer | made 10 their re-
quest, and they looked very uneasy.
1t must be observed that we were abou;
twenty wards from The snakes den. now
ranged the negroes behind me, and told bin,
who stood next to me to lay hold of the
lance the moment | strucx the snake, and
that the other must attend my movements.
Ii now only remained to take their cu,lasses
from them; for | was sure if did no, dis
! arm them, they would he tempted TO strike
; the snake in time OF danger, and thus for
ever spoil bis skin. On taking their cut
lasses from them, if might Judge from
their physingnOmy, they seemed to consider
it most intDlerahle &C, of tyranny. Proba-
bly, nothing kept them from boltlng but the
consolation that was to he betwixt them
and the snake. Indeed, my own heart, in
spite Of all | could do, beat quicker than
usual.
We went slowly on in silence, without
vent all alarm rs much as possible, lest the
snake should glide off or attack US in self
defence. | carried the lance perpendIcular.
ly before me, with the point about foot
from the ground. The snake had not NOV
ed; aud on getting up to him, 1 struck him
with the lance on the near side, Just behind
the neck. aud pinned hin to the ground.
That moment the negro next to me seized
the lance and held II firmly in lis place
while dashed head foremost into the den
10 :.rapple with the snake, aud TO get hold
of his tail before he could do any mischief.
On pnuing him to the ground with The
lance, he gave tremendous loud hiss, and
the little dog ran away, bowling as he went.
| We had a sharp fray in the den, the rotte,
sticks flying OF all sides, AMI each party
struggling for superiority. called out to
the second negro 10 throw himself upon me
a / found was not heavy enough. lie
/ did so, and The additional weight was Of
great service. I had now got "a firm hold
/ of his tail; and after n violent struggle or
two, he gave in, finding himself Overpow-
cred. This was the ,nomen; To secure hun.
! So while the first negro continued to hold
the lance firm 10 the ground, and the other