The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1873-08-16
So PER ANNUM.

my iuspectiOn was interrupted by an I'M
looked-for and startling incident. Suddenly
my mule made a tremendous leap, as il
it had been endowed with the activity Of
the race horse, or the springing powers Of
the cat tribe. Simultaneously with this
extraordinary bound sideways into the
jungle, | heard rustling among the up
per branches of tree which grew beside
the path, and on looking over my shoulder,
as soon as the speed of my mule slackened
enoug Oh TO enable me to do so, l saw what
at first appeared to be an enormous vine
or creeper, which had become somehow
detached from the trunk Of the tree and
was swinging from one of its upper branch
es, whence had proceeded the rustling sound
which / had heard, but which second
glance revealed to my horror in the sup
posed pendant vine an enormous serpent,
green as the little innocent snake thet
glides over our lawns and clings to our
shrubbery, but as thick as mans thigh,
and which could not have been less than
from twenty-five to thirty feet in length.
Its protruding tongue, its glazing eyes and
erected body, expressed either rage at its
disappointment or a determination to pur-
sue its intended prey, and / need hardly
say that increased the distance between
myself and the strange fountain in the
wilderness, under such terrible guardian.
ship, ms fast as the speed of my mule
and the distractions Of the jungle permit
ted, and that my enthusiasm over the won
ders of tropical forest has sensibly abated
My travelling companion whom | immedi'
ately rejoined, and to whom l related my
adventure, insisted that my fears had ex,
aggerated the dimensions Of the serpent
but am not conscious Of such exaggera,
ton, for on my first glance at it | was
more indignant at the mule for its silly
terrors than alarmed for myself | had
therefore, ample opportunity for correct
observation in my cooler moments.
On relating my adventure to one of the
natives in Panama, who had become &C.
quainted with our language, | was assured
that the green Boa, or Anaconda of the
Isthmus, was no myth; but that he had
himself seen these serpents, much larger
than the one had encountered. He also
informed me that he had heard accounts
of those Of this complexion Of from fifty t.
one hundred feet in length and Of CORES
ponding bulk but that these were found
in more inaccessible portions of the Cen
trail American jungle.
Be that as it may, / can vouch for the
dimensions of the one seen by myself
Nor is there anything too incredible fol
belief in these accounts Of my informant
Comparatively little is known about the
natural history of the serpent, especially al
to its possible physical development. sucl
an eminent naturalist as Goldsmith, mort
than hints that certain species grow al
long as they live, and that they probably
live longer than any other animal which
now inhabits the globe. The only tive
conditions to the highest PHYSICAL develop
ment Of this class, then, is security from
death by violence, and an abundant suppl,
of food. Both these they find in thu
noisome jungles of Central and Soutl
America, in which the foot Of man has no
trodden for ages. Here they find abund
ance of food in the myriad forms Of ANNA
life by which they are surrounded, ant
are secure from man, the only enem,
capable ofwaging successful warfare agains
them. If, then, this idea of the naturalis
in regard to the growth and longevity o
the larger serpents is correct, what is Il
hinder those which we are accustomed t,
meet in the haunts of men Of from twenty
FIVE to thirty feet in length, from growing
in those dreadful solitudes where man ha
never penetrated, to the length Of fifty o
even hundred feet or more, and with
corresponding bulk. Such monsters ar
rarely seen, and then only by the DARN
hunter, or adventurous explorer Of previ
ously untrodden wilds, and their account
it is the fashion of the times to repudiate