The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1865-03-30

4 was OF ye.lowiSh brown color, near TO that
Of the LLAMA itself and but for its smooth,
shining skin, and the eleg,nt convolutions
of its body, might have been mistaken for
one parasite entwining another. Its head
however, was in motion, its long neck
stretched out, apparently in readiness to
seize upon one Of the birds as soon as it
should come within striking distance.
Ralph was not much alarmed. A snake
was no uncommon sight, and the one ques-
ton was not so montrous as to appear We.
ry formidable. The first thought was to
call off the birds, or in some way get them
out Of reach Of the snake /; for the imprndent
creatures, instead Of retreating from such a
dangerous enemy, seemed determined to
fling themselves upon its faugi, which Ralph
epsid 81 erect and glistening, as at inter-
qalls IL a~tandinn its laws The litila naro--
approaching within a few inches of the SER
pent, and even aligbting on the lliana a.
round which it had warped itself. Ralph
was ascending still higher, to take the bird
in his hand, and carry it clear Of the dan
ger, when his climbing was suddenly arres
ted by shout from Money, the Mozambique
that proclaimed both caution and terror
Fo' you life doant' Mass'r Raft" cried,
the negro, following up his exclamation Of
warning. "Fo' you life doant go near um !
You no know what am dat ar snake p
It am de Jarardca :"
l 4
"Jararaca ~ mechanically rejo'ned Ralph.
"Ya-ya-de moas pisenous sarpin in all
de valley Oh de amazon. Use hear de In
jine say so score OBJ times. Come down,
Mass'r come down. |" Attracted by the
screaming Of the birds, and the chattering of
the monkeys, the others listened attentively
below. But upon the negro's quick cry Of
warning, and the dialogue that ensued
Trevannion ascended higher, followed by
Tipperary Tom-Rosa remained alone be.
low alone; 10 the fork where her father had
left her. Trevannion, on coming in sight of
the snake at once recognized it as all that
Mozey had aleged-the most poisonous of
the Amazon valley,-a species of Craspetus
He knew it from having seen one before,
which the Mundurucu had killed near Goa
ry and had described in similar terms.-ad.
ding that its bite was almost instantly fa-
tai, that 1T will attack man or beast without
any provocation. that it can spring upon
its enemy from distance, and finally, that
it was more feared than sny other creature
in the country, not excepting the jaguar
and jacarel
The appearance of the reptile itself was
4 sufficient to confirm this account. It's flat
7trfnrsSufus ,z--3 CONNECTED with the hndy
by a long thin neck, its glittering eyes are
red forking tongue. projected at intervals
more than an inch beyond its snout. gave
the creature monstrous and hideous as
pect. 1t was not of great size.--scarcely
six feet long, and not thicker than girls
wrist but it needed not bulk to make it
dangerous. No one knew not exactly what
to do. All were without arms, or weap.
ons of any kind. These had long since
gone to the bottom of the Gapo and for
so,ne minutes no movement was made ex.
cept by young Ralph, who, on being warn.
ed of his danger, had fastened to des.
cend the tree. The birds were left to them
selves, and still continued screaming and
futtering above. Up to this time the snake
had remained motionless, except his oscil
latlng head and neck. It's body now be,
gan to move, and the glittering folds slowly
to relax their hold upon the LLAMA.
"Great God he is coming down th,
tree!' The words had hardly left Trevan
Q MONS lips before the snake was seen crav
ling along the lliana, and the next moment
transferring its body to branch which
grew slantingly from the main trunk
This was soon reached and then, by means
of another LLAMA lying parallel to it, tht
continued its descent. All those who
stood by the trunk hastily forsook the peri
lous place, and retreated outward along
the branches. The jararaca seemed to tax,
no note either of their presence or flight
but continued down the limb towards the
fork of the main stem, where stood lttl,
! Rosa. 30 heavens H. cried Trevannion, ir
voice of anguish, "My child is lost !"
The girl had risen to her feet, being al
ready fearful of the danger threatening hel
friends above; but on looking up, she be-
held the hideous reptile coming straight to-
wards her Her situation was most peril
: Gus. The LLAMA by which the snake wa:
descending rose right up from the fork o
= the sapucaya. The child was even claspin!
. it in her band, to keep herself erect. Th,
= reptile could not pass without touching her
: In fact, it must pass over her person to ge
down from the tree. There was no likeli
= hood of its gliding on without striking hel
: It's we'll known character-as the most mag
icious of venomous serpents-forbade tn
supposition, The snake was scare ten fee
above her head, still gliding onward an
: downward 1t was at this crisis that he
father had given voice to that despairin
exclamation. He was about to scrambl
down to the trunk, with the design Of laun
ching himself upon the serpent, grapplin
it with his naked hands, reckless Of conse
! quences, when sign from Money, accom-
panied by some words quickly spoken, eau
sell him to hesitate.
"No use, Mass'r - cried the negro, ''n
sse,-you be too late. Jump, lilly Rosey !!
he continued, calling to the child in loud
commanding voice. ''Irs you only chance
: Jump into de water, an ole Mozy he com