, 1866-12-23
WEASEL rs. SNAKE.
Fight between RH 1ehuenuon and 4
E0hYM.

Fight between 2n Iehneumon and 4
Cobra.
In letter to the Madrns Igmes, dated
Trichinopo!y, stgnsd By three officers Of the
esting sceount Of Aght between nlon-
goose, or IchneHmon, and 4 cobra:
We think the long-ye1ed question. whether
the n1ongoo*e, On being hittcn By the cobra,
rrtires INTO The Jungle and tnds some herb a.
N antldote~ for the poison, or whether the
the animal, has been At last settled. On Sat-
ue1av mpfnjuE last, whilst seated In the tQeas~
house with several officers of the regiment, =
servant cAmc And stlted that snake had
+ been seen By one Of the xAazo 70 enter hole
iu the ground close to whdse the guard was
We Immediately sent far monEoose "a tame
orc and the property Of an oficcr), snd PCT
him TO the hole. He soou began to scratch
away the Garth, and In half au hour = hnc
cobra, about yard long, came forward With
mongooec, who seemed to care nothing for
tbc reptile, but merely jumped out OF the
wav to avoid the blows which the snake
s,ruck at hin,. Tht mouGoose, unfortunately,
Ldd just fed. consequently did not snow
sufllc,eat inclination to 90 in at him and kill
| him over 10 one OF tho officers quarters to
have tic contest carried on there after the
mopaoeee should have some little time 10
| get orcr his breakfast. Al1cr A-conple 81
/ h0OfS fCN+ VIC pl1CE0 kuE CQufA III . lGulu.
with closed doors, 1--WE harinr In the mean
| tine taken up secure station In the room,
| from which We could observe Ill the move,
mtpts OF the comhatautA,) The nongoose
| ws4 let In and the fight commenced.
The m9ngoose % apP"11ehea "1 ned the sobra viii !,
| Sar. The cobrs. With head erect and body
! vibrating, watched his opponent With ap-
| ra,epE signs uc being aware Of how deadly an
| enemy be had 10 contend with. The mon.
| goose vas koon within easy striking distance
! of The snake, who, suddenly throwing back
ncndcus force. The uoneoooe, quick as
thought, sprusg back ou, Of reach, utterinss
at, The same tine. savage gsoEb- Arasa
lie hooded reptile rose ca the de
ftnsive, and the monsooss, moth
iue daepted By the dlsssudsd 5aw.
proachrd 20 near to the snake that he was
iorfed, not relishing snch c1ose proximity,
to draw bis bead bsck considerably. Thl.
| 1esseued considerably hla distance from tht
! ground the xnongoosc, 1t once seeing tn
Advantageous opportunity sprsas sss a. a. "a n.
! az ~ receive - aswound. Again the combat
4 ants mt themselves In position to renew
| the encornres. arafu the snake struck ht thl
viis opponent. and again THE lattef's sgffss,
'afea t ann5d nn be tedious to recount In fdrthe
dcts;S ,hr PARTICULARS Of about dozen sue
cessfye rounds, At the end OF which hu
reithcr c.n,hat.ut seemed to suffer NOR,
att iean he o1her; We .iT Limit ourselves i
describe the Anas AID most interesting en-
counter. The fight bad lasted some three
au1fters Of IN hour, and both combs'aut
s.emed to ee5ve Il. nos,son
defence for that IF attack, seemed deter
mined nova to do or die. Slowly on b
1atchfol eremy the cobra adxanced: witl
advance Of his still unysnqnished toe II
cobra had now approached 90 close tnat N
vas unsh1e to spfipe out Of reach by Iumpin
backwards, rs he had done in The pIesioa
cnco1ntcsr) nlu.bly bounded stra1ght up !
the air. The cobra missed his object, an
struck the ground Nndcr him. 1nmedlAtel