Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1876-10-27
The Brave Rescue.
A STORY OF CEYLON,


cesslt1es IN that cheap and frugal coun'
try, Ceylon, were eusily provided for
Our nearest neighbor was MIR. Fors-
| ter, piantsr, by far wealthier than wt
| were. Now Oswald Foster and l wee
pl;ghted lovers, but the very idea 0
All engagement between his only Sol
aud the daughter OF his embarrassed
naiphbor was gall and wormwood to
! Oawald 9 falher--a proud, strong
ed man.
!. Desirous to efface from Oswald
| Lnind the idea Of marrying poor lutte
Ellen Travers, MIR. Foster, with nis
H'fe,s concurrence, proposed to send
his son to Europe, contiden: thu: FOR
e1gn travel and change Of scene would
soon obliterate from his memory the
image Of the lonely little girl beside
Fhe great tank of Minaty. And now 4
word concerning the tank itself, the
| name o. which, fear, conveys to the
| reador bat very inadequate cDncep-
tlon OF the stupendous reality. The
tank Of M1nary, justly re ckoned among
the marvois which the island of Ct.y-
lon has still to show, is perhaps the
grandest OF the artificial lakes ever
planned by mortal engineer, Mors
than two thousand years passed since,
hofore she Christian era, q Buddhist
king bade his subjects toll to erect ihe
Maestro walls OF hewn stone and tough
chunam tia envilt,n that vast sheet Of
water, twenty-five miles in circum-
ference.
With the Minary lake, or tank,
which lay close to my own home, had
been from childhood familiar. and |
q ariy loved the mIrrorhke expanse of
It's caim waters, studded with floating z
Islands Of the crlmson biossomed lotus
of India, the red flowers ind green
leaves OF which covered many thous-
and acrss OF tho surface Strange fi.h
OF brilliant colors glided in glittering
shoals through the deep, clear water,
raleiy distu, bed by PROV or paddle !;
bright birds cf every size, from the
tcar.et hamlngo to the tiny oriole or
the towering adjutant, haunted it !;
and ali around grew In dense profu--
fusion the mighty trees and Towering
creepcrs o: the virgin forest, whence
came at times the complaining cry OF
the mountain cat, the belling of she
deer, the panther's snarl, or the crash
ing of cane and sapliDg, as wild sis~
phaDts forced their wsy through the
traokless recessss of abe Jungle.
AlllgatOrs were very common. snakes
plentiful, and the scorpion, the cent?
pede, and the tree lecch were often to
be met with in the more swampy and
tangled tracts OF the woodlands.
Oswald was going away, and it would
be buL very seldom that We were to
meet henceforth, since, poor fellow,
re was to sail by the Lord Dalhousie,
expected at Point de Gale on the
thirty first of the month.
[ went with heavy heart TO the
spot where we always met. To my
surprise [ did not at first see him for
whom [ looked, and begun TO fear that
he had forgotten 30 keep his uouted
tryst but, on drawing nearer, l be-
held a sight that for the moment froze
my very veins with horror, and oaus~
cd the cry of anguish that rose to ny
lips to die away. Oswald, lying on
the turf among the rootS of the glgan-
TIC palm tree, seemed to be asleep,
overcome, probably, by the unusual
heat, while around him was loosely
coiIed something that resembled a
stout rope, curiously streaked with
black and orange and white-some~
thing that caused the withered leaves
aud crisp graea to rustic, as it stirred,
wrlthing.
[ had never seen a living tic paiun-
ga, but I knew at the frst glance that
the snake before my eyes was no other
than . large specimen Of thas dreaded
reptile, which in Oeylon takes the po
sition that IN continental India belongs
to the cobra, and for the bite Of which
there is no known remedy. Twice
within the last three years labOrers on
fnN Nd
brought III dying from the velom of
the tic palunga, but in each instance
the skill Of the native snake oharmer
had led to the capture OF the reptile,
and it Was not believed that any of
this species, rare as well as danger
GUS, had been left alive IN our imme-
diate neighborhood. This, however.
was uEquestlonably a tic paluLga,
many feet loug, and it had wrapped
it's coils, as though il hideous sport.
around Oswald'5 limbs as he lay there
unconscious.
The great fiat head of the enormous
snake rested On the ground among the
flowers snd ferns. / could see it's eyes,
bright as jewels, fixed upon me. Ii
showed, for the moment, however, no
particular signs of anger Or dlstrust,
but contented itself with quietly con-
templatiDg the intruder on Its haunts.
As l stood gazing on my sleeping
lover and the mOnstrOus creature that
lay, wakeful, but quiescent, SO near to
him, all the stories Of snakes that L
had ever heard or read came crowd
ing in upon my quickened memory
I knew that the tic palunga, in COM
mon with most Of the venomous varie-
ties of its race, seldom employed its
poison fangs unless when attacked or
annoyed but [ also knew that the
hardest elephant hunter OF the forests
would sooner confront the charge Of
herd of incensed tuskers than face the
lAncelike dart and rancorous bite Of
this dreaded denizen of the jungle.
The tic palunga, unlike the boa and
the python, rarely, if ever, preys upon
the larger animals, such as deer or
cattle, confning it's diet, for the most
part. to birds and frogs and lizards
some capsice, most likely, had caused
il to twine part of It's supple convo-
lutions around Oswald as he lay, and
80 long as he remained asleep and mo-
tionless, there was little probability
that the serpent would harm him.
My great fear was lest he should awake,
and III awaklug, by some huety mo7
ment, arouse the Ire of the resistless
foe. Oswald was brave and strong.
but it was IA mockery to speak of
,trength or courage when 50 terrible
All antagonist was IL question.
Suddenly, as if it had been whis
per flom Heaven, there came INTO my
luInd a thought that promised hop,
even il that GiGe extremity Of need
I had often seen harmless snakes kept
tame in colonial households, and was
aware of their habits, and Of their
love for certain kinds of food, and,
above all, for milk. Could I but lring
temptingly near to the tic palunga, all
,,oir ~ ha xuoIl And uot tn 1ooart him