Weekly Calaveras chronicle., 1866-10-06
THE sERPENTS' DEN.

In the year lI9Z a man Dy the name
of Job Slocum, together with his family
consisting of his wife and two sons, SET
led in the northwest portion of Virginia.
His rough cabin was built upon the
banks of beautiful and romantic stream
that after meandering in the valleys
and through the dense forests, at length
emptied its waters into the Ohio.
One day iu the spring of 1899, Jobs
two sons, Jesse and Thomas, in compa-
with several of the neighboring settlers,
had made up hunting party, intending
to be gone several days. They took up
their line of march into a dense piece
of woods to the northward, and after
making their exit from this, commenced
the ascent of a steep and rocky activity.
They had reached about half way up,
when all at once the foremost of them
started back with surprise and horror,
as the well-known sound of the rattle
snake fell upon their ears. Immediate
ly following the alarm, they beheld
numbers of these venomous reptiles d.
rectly in their path, some of them of
huge size, and all having their heads
raised and thrown back in a threatening
manner. But the early pioneers were
not men easily frightened off by such a
foe; and our heroes, after procuring
good stout hickory cudgels pressed on to
the encounter.
As t ey approached, the serpents-
which, while the party were cutting
their slaves, had become passive-again
reused up, and assumed the defensive,
darting out their tongues and sounding
their rattles fercely in defiance. The
battle now commenced in real earnest
the snakes striking with great anger
at the men, and they in turn avoiding
the danger of being bitten, and shower
ing heavy and desperate blows upon
the reptiles. The latter, after pro-
loDged and savage contest, finally fed,
or rather retreated, down into crew.
ice of some rocks near the brow of the
hill.
The attacking party advanced with
great caution to this opening, expecting
to see the enemy again start up and re-
new the fight. Hearing no rattle, how
ever, the boldest of the men going down
upon their knees, peered into the fs-
sure, but nothing was to be seen of the
serpents.
On counting the number that had
been killed, the hunters found that they
were between fifty and sixty, some of
them being nearly five feet in length,
and in the largest part Of the body,
were as thick as a mans 8 leg, below the
calf.
None of the party having received
any injury, they all proceeded on their
way to the place where they intended to
hunt. After prolougidg the excursion
for some three or four days, the compa-
ny returned in high spirits. Jesse and
Thomas mentioned the incident of en-
countering the rattlesnakes to their
father, who, after questioning them as
to the natural peculiarities of the spot,
rejoined
"Well, lads, we will go over there to-
morrow, and III warrant you we'll have
a fine time of it.
Accordingly, early the next morning
together with his two sons and several
of his neighbors, Job proceeded to the
scene of the previous en- ounter And
there, piled in heap, he saw the dead
serpents just as they had been left by
the victors. But the most thorough
search of the locality failed to discover
the whereabouts of single living one.
This very much astonished all present,
with the exception of old Job, who,
turning to Jesse, said:
"Lend me that pole, lad, and I'll see
if l can't find them"
Having obtaiOed the instrument re-
ferred to, which was nothing more than
large and heavy plane-iron lashed to
the extremity of long ashen pole, be
proceeded to the crevice where the rep
tiles had disappeared afte, the previous
defeat. Parting some thick underbrush
that covered it partially over, he thrust
his weapon as far down as practicable,
though the jagged nature Of the sides of
the 6ssure prevented him from pushing
lit further than half the length of the
pole ID