Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1876-02-17
The Big Snakes 81 Brazil.

for which they had vainIy fought q
hozze. Ii ii now known that several gen
Genlen attempted TO carry this project
into effect. and thai FOR various reasons,
the enterprise proved failure.
some a the wanderers died In Brazil.
The greater number, however, have re-
turned, or are about returning. They did
not find Brazil congeniai home. Neither
the climate nor the laws and customs OF
the people proved agreeable TO Anglo
American habits and tastes.
one Of these self exiles, South Caro-
Jinian by birth, who has been living near
Csxias. contributes many interesting IN
cidenx OF his life, as q subject of the
Emperor, Dom Pedro. Some Of has
snake stories will, we fancy, asionisb the
readers Of tie Conpaason.
This gentleman Whose name we must
reserye), in COMPANY with his brother-in-
Law and nephew. tried the experiment Of
introducing and raising English blooded
stock III Brazil.
For this purpose they located grazing
ranch among the grassy uplands 20 The
southwest ~ Caxias, taxing into Their
employ lfor g1yueroes or herdsmepl, Ne
groes and native Indians Of the ur,e 81
EotscBGOes.
This grassy, halfepen region was In.
tested with q species u snake, such as
the people there call 5.b1ya. They grow
20 an enormous size, and frequent the scat
tered tbickets Of bushes and high grass.
The cattle Of The ranch and the snakes
did not get along well together. The i'm.
ported stock had English instincts, and
ule sight, and perhaps the smell, Of these
ugly reptiles always frightened them.
Whenever, as they fed, one Of the cattle
came near lurking Jtbega, the animal
would stop short, stand q moment with
ewes diiating. then utter short below of
alright and dash away with tail eresi in
The air. Sometimes the whole herd
would gatl.er about the spot, snortlng,
paving and goring the earth, with
strange bawiings, 10 indicate their deep
antipaihy.
"These snakes ? said our friend, "wefe
great. clumsy reptiles that were generally
sluggish 10 iaeir movements, yet al times
rousing from their torpGr 10 a dangerous
activity. The largest one that ] saw
measured little over tweaty-one feet In
length; bot the Bo;ecudoes declared they
had mel with jf12yas that were hif.
~ feet long aud over. The one j re,
TERED ~ WA as large Ia circumference
as good sized st0ye.pipe. la swallow,
ing their, food, their bodies stretch
amazing in gjrth. Such serpent could
swallow q sheep or a calf with ease.
The instructive dread and hatred Of
the cattle for tliis snake was not without
its cause. Several times the younger ami
mails 0f our herd were besct by them, and
once swo.yeaI- old steer was crushed 20
badly that il died Commonly the paquS.
goes would hear the bnbbub afnDng the
cattle. and would rush 10 ascertain The
cause Of il, and then kill the reptile with
their clubs
aThe tao.yeaf old steer was seized very
early one morning. Our negro BOY ran 70
my room 90 wake me. On going out
heard ne cattle believing, hall mile
away, on the hillside The gaquer0es stood
huddled together, listening. They were
afraid IL WAS Jsgnar or tiger.
I" ! took my gun aud ran toward the
scene Of the disturbance, followed by the
hcrdsmen. On coming near the cattle,
we al once saw the cause OF the hubbup.
fTle jtboga had apparently been coiled
in small palm, and had swung down on
the steer ~ il fed beneath. Two coils
were thrown round the steers body, one
OF them holding Its hind legs, and the
reptile WAS biting yieiously al the back
part Of the steers neck.
1.-The aninsl was struggling on The
ground, nttering the most distressful bel.
lDwings, TO which were added those Of
twenty OF thirty of the other cattle, who
had gathered around.
a. soon as the herdsmen saw that i,
was jtb0ya, and not 8 jaguar, one Of the
Indians dashed forward aud, with sin
gle blow from stake that he carried, laid
the reptile PROSTATE.
t" Despite lis size, thc Indians do moi
much fear the jtboya, and II is surprising
hos easily they Kill the monster
This was the snake To which | re-
fcrrcd as being twenty .one feet long. II
WA beautifully spotted and notified, and
had hard, tough scales that were some Of
them a. large ~ the palm Of mans hand.
In the dry season the springs and rllls
on the uplands failed For this reason
the stock had to be driven 10 the river
Olanda Ia branch Of the Parnahiba1,
three or four miles 10 the southeast OF our
ranch. II was muddy stream, Dor.
dered by rank thickets Of muricl, amidst
which rose an occasional LOFTY saniauma
rec and the plumes Of few palms.
During the third summer we lost
fine Ayrshire COW here, killed by sue,L
yllla snake. This IL the reptile thai ~
called in natural histories the water
boa, " and sometimes the ataco,,da, Only
one Of the hcrdsmen saw the struggle, ana
he sas some distance behind, IN the jun
gle. when the sucuridbd made Its attack.
- lie declared that The snake rose oni
Of the water aud threw itself upon the
COW ~ she stood drInking. More prob
ably the reptile MAS lurking In the reeds.
1--WE bad only the negro's statement ~
90 the size Of the serpent. lie said II
was ms long az one Of our feed-chains
tabout thirty fce,D aud as large round ~ q
mans body Al aEy rate II was large
enough 81 kill the COW, but IL was not
large enough 10 swalieH her.
1--WE found her body In the mud and
water, out In the nid emanuel, Her
horns were broken, and her head aud
neck bore mafks Of having been la the
snakes mouth, Az II Tie reptile had tried
u swallow the COW, but had been unable
70 do 80,
I" Unlike the 3iboya. the sacurta5a Ii very
tenacious Of life, and swim in its move
menis. Tie Indians said that II Was an
ugly customer 70 encounter. when on the
alert for aneai *&fS ittf
. But In spite Of the size OF these mon
ssefs, they gave us much less anxiety, and
we suffered less lDss from them than
from the smaller yen0iious snakes which
are much too common for comfort In
Arazff E. % q