Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1854-05-20
THE WHIP SNAKE.

" A'i' '-~'~e~AAA1
rs the wind was veering about very capri
ciousiy, was casting my eye anXiousEy along
the warp, 10 see how it bore the strain, when,
TO my surprise, it appeared to my eye TO thicken
at the end next the tree, and presenting some
thing like 4 screw, about foot long, that oc
tasonay shone like glass in the moonlight,
began to move along the taut line with a spiral
motion. All this time one of the boys was
fast asleep, resting on his folded arms on the
gnnwale, his head having dropped down on the
Stern of the boat. But one of the Spanish
boatmen in the canoe that was anchored close
to Us, seeing me gazing at something, had cast
his eyes in the same direction. The instant he
caught the object, he thunped with his palms
on the side Of the canoe, eSc!aiming in Il loud,
alarmed tone. "Culebra! culebu!'-a snake.
snake,-on which the reptile made q sudden
and rapid slide down the line towards the bow
of the boat, where the poor lad was resting his
head, and Immediately afterw ards dropped into
the sea. ..-r -s
The sailor rose and walked aft, as if nothing
had happened, amongst his messnates, who
had been alarmed by the cries of the Spanish
canoe man; and | was thinking little OF the
matter, when | heard some anxious Whisper
ines amongst them
Fred" said one Of the men, "what is wrong
that you breathe so hard!'
why, boy, whnt aiIs you? said another.
"Somethiug has stung me, at length said
the poor little fellow, speaking thick, as if he
had labored under sore throat. The truth fash
ed on me: Il candle was lit, and on looking at
him, he appeared stunned, complained o.! cold,
then assumed wild, startled look. He eync-
ed great anxiety and resilesshess, accompanied
by sudden and severe prostration of strength,
still continuing to complain of great and in
creasing cold and chillness, but he did not shi-
YER As yet no part of his body was swollen
except very slightly about the wound; however,
there was rapidly increasing rigldity of the
muscles of the neck and throat, and within
bali hour after he was bit, he was utterly una
Bile to swallow even liquids. a.
f The small whip snake, the most deadly asp
in the whole list of noxious reptiles peculiar
to South America, was not above fourteen
inches long; it made four small punctures with
its fings right over the left jugular vein, about
an inch below the chin. There was no blood
oozng from them; but circle about the size
of crown piece, of dark red, surrounded the
bite, which gradually melted into blue at the
outer rim, which again became fainter, until it
disappeared in the natural color of the skin
By the advice of the Spanish boatIGan, we APP
piled an embrocaion of the leaves Of the pal
ma christi, or castor oil nut, as hot as the lad
could bear it; but we had neither oil nor hot
milk to give internally, both Of which they in
formed US, often proved specifics.
Rather than lie at anchor until morning un-
der these melancholy circumstances, showed
| out into the rough water; but we made little
of it, and when the day broke, saw that the
poor fellows fate was sealed. His voice had
become inarticuae; the GOODNESS had increased
--all motion in the extre1nites had ceased; the
| legs and arms became quite stiff; the respira-
ton low and difficult, as if the blood had Icoa-
gnlated and could no longer circulate through
| the heart; or as if from some unaccountable
effect of the poison of the nerves, the action
of the former had been impeded. Still,s the
|. poor little fellow was perfectly sensible, and
/ his eye bright and restless. His breathing be.
came still more interrupted. He could no
| longer be said to breathe, but gasped; and in
half an hour, like the steam engine when the
| fire is Withdrawn, the strokes Or contractions
| and expansions of his heart became slower and
slower until they ceased altogether. From
the very moment of his death, the body began
| rapidly to swell, and became discolored. The
face and neck especially, were nearly as black
as asink within half an hour of it, when blood
began to flow from the mouth, and other symp'
| toms of rapid decomposition succeeded each
other so fast, that by nine the morning we
had TO sew him in a boat sail, with d large
stone, and launch the body into the sea-
! Prof Wilson, Ell -l-sss.4sss5sses 5zss.ts7-.