Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1874-09-11

eHCLH w IIHh Oub OI GHclI CdptuIClo
bowl, and struck them smartly on the
head if they drank too eagerly. They
piped to them and they danced. They
made them come and go like dogs.
They coiled the biggest round and round
LAGOON folds They forced the snakes
to. bite them, and healed the wounds
with touch and word, and the dwellers
in the village wondered more and more,
and rejoiced greatly that such potent
leaguered them had visited their settle
ment. Suddenly the chief magician
seized hooded snake gliding noiselessly
upon the ground. 1t was one that had
not come under the influence of his
spells, having just writhed in from the
encircling wood Instantly it rose in
wrath, it's neck puffed out like bladder
with it's savage passion. Out came it's
forked tongue, its curved fangs fastened
on the charmer's arm, and ere long he
was corpse, the conqueror gliding back
into the forest in triumph, and his COM
rades that had been watching from the
trees raised hiss of eXultation, which
made the villagers blood run cold.
When | left the village the under-wiZ-
ards were raising their dreary funeral
wall. In one of the garden-plats in the
outskirts an innOcent-1ookIng little rab-
bit, which had come to help itself to the
juicy blades and roots, found that it was
itself to be made meal of. A feeling
OF Seml-cOma came over me as
looked at the helpless little thing, which
was looking up as if mesmerized at the
terrible serpent, ever coiling closer, that
was looking down on it. | shuddered,
| cold sweat streamed down my face. |
| felt as if, in this strange land of snakes
and magic, my identity were in some way
being merged in that of rabbit With
a violent effort l Wrenched myself away
and wandered on through the mysterious,
oppressive, green gloom. l saw horned
asps, vipers branded as if in warning
with their initial, putt-adders, carpet
snakes writhing up slim tree-bo]es in
quest of birds nests, 1.-the, thin, mud
hued little whipsnakes, ight-bellied
blacksnakes, crimson bloodsnakes, white
ladies darting like flashes of light, but
messengers of deadly darkness, ringed
cOralsnakes, as lovely and as lethal,
cobras and lance-heads. / roamed for
miles through regions dominated by
monstrous bull snakes, boas, pythons and
anacondas. | trembled as [ saw the
me across rivers and lagoons and crush
ing the first living thing they encoun-
tered with an ease which plainly showed
what would have been my fate had |
been the first at hand. I held my breath
as l passed them lying motionless in the
dense underwood, with their white-j awed
heads just peeping from beneath their
coils. | approached though lusher jun
gle a stream which [ saw that | must
ford-the deer, bufaloes and fercer
beasts had made track straight
down for it, and, unless | turned
back, there was no other road for me to
travel. Some of the footmarks | saw,
some of the cries | heard ahead, were
not reassuring but in my dread of snakes
[ had come to hold four-footed maraud-
ers cheap. My fears were temporarily
dissipated by one of the most grandly
beautiful sights | had ever beheld. |
had read of the wonders of tropical veg
etation-of it's climbing palms, it's net
ting and festooning lianas, with their
lovely flowers. Now | saw something of
this kind. Clustered round and droop-
ing from the trees were long, thick
creepers of gorgeous hues, those that
dangled gently swaying in the almost
breathless air. | stood for time,
rooted to the ground in startled admira-
ton. Then l walked on to get a nearer
view of this magnificent sight. Sudden
ly one of the creepers, holding on by the
upper end, flung out the other-horror
of horrors! it was head-a boa's head.
The constructor seized buffalo with it's
frightful jaws and coiled itself round
and round it's victim. Crunch, crunch,
went every bone in the wild beef; the
I, n ofI
Then it uncoiled itself, slavered it's prey
all over, and, opening it's mouth to the
utmost, prepared to swallow its evening
meal. 1t was horrid to see the creatures
long body swelling and sinking like bill
lows as the buffalo was forced along.
Another pounced upon puma; another
another-horrible-u a man; another
still more horrible-upon woman and
her child.
Ugh! those "lovely tropical creepers"
what Nightmares had they become, as
they lay gorged with food, bloated and
torpid!
And yet in spite of the awful deaths
of my fellow -creatures-so selfish is hu
man nature-I could not help finding
comfort in that stupid content
"Now," [ said within myself, shall
be able to cross the river in safety; yet
God knows that my heart bleeds for
those poor creatures, though they were
not white. 1t was sickening to see
stout man crunched like snail in that
way. Never shall forget the womans
awful scream, and oh, that poor, help
less little babe! Still the beasts of prey
are slain, and the hideous snakes are
powerless or purposeless to harm me-"
| advanced toward the river, gliding
dreamily through the still forest, so late
| ly the scene of blood-curdling slaughter,
but now once more hushed in enchanted
calm But from the water suddenly
arose boa's head, far bigger than had
| yet SEEM out of the water undulated a
boa's body, which seemed as if it would
never cease billowing itself on shore.
! / fed in terror, but could not help
| looking over my shoulder as fed.
| The big boa, in passing, licked up the
other boas as unconeernedly as if they
had been mere shrimps, and still pursued
| me.
My foot slipped, and his curved teeth
were in me.
Again | felt the cold chill run through
my frame, as ] had done when | beheld
the fascinated rabbit.
The coils were crunching me.
| In my agony gave one frantic fling,
and-all was over
| had kicked off half my bed-clothes,
and twisted the other half tight round
my neck, and the night before, after
looking at the cuts in a natural-history
book, l had taken cool, light, yet
heavy, summer supper of cucumber al
1aata1al.-1he Saturday Journal.
| -
-"Sixty dollars for threshing-ma-