The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1877-12-06
Gemerai Gopits.
A TERRIBLE COMBAT.
An Unarmed Man in the Coils Of
an Enormous Rattlesnake.

A 49, C"o OOAAo ~
an Enormous Rattlesnake.
The ship Prosperity, from London,
reached one of the West India islands
in May, 1866. One of the seamen named
Jarvis, having left the vessel, wander
ed about the island On a sultry day,
such as are frequent in that part of the
globe.
Being oppressed by the intense heat
and fatigued with previous exertions,
he inconsiderately laid himself down
to sleep, reclining his head on a small
hillOck, opposite a rock about ten feet
high. He lay on his back and his
eyes, after he had slept a little, were
directed, as the first object that met
them, to the perpendicular height be-
tween them. What was his horror TO
discover on the top of it an ENORMOUS
r~attlesnake, with it's keen and beauti-
full, yet malignant eyes, steadily fixed
on him.
He felt as if charmed to the spot.
The witchery of the %serpent's eyes 50
irresistibly rooted him to the ground
that for the moment he did not wish
to remove them from his formidable
opponent. The huge reptile gradually
and slowly uncoiled its body, all the
while steadily keeping his eyes fixed
on those of it's intended victim. Jar
Wis now cried out, without being able
to move:
Hell bite me! Take him away /!
take him away
The snake now began to writhe its
body down a fissure in the rock, keep
its head elevated more than a foot from
the ground. Its rattleS made very
little noise. 1t every moment darted
out its forked tongue, its eyes became
reddish and inflamed, and it moved
rather quicker than at first. 1t was
now within two yards of its intended
victim, who by some means had dissi-
pated the charm, and, reused by a
sense of his awful danger, determined
to stand on the defensive.
To run away from it, Jarvis knew,
would be impracticable, as the snake
would instantly dart it's whole body
after him. He therefore resolutely
stood up, and put a strong glove which
he happened to nave with him on his
right hand.
He stretched out his arm. The snake
approached slowly and cautiously to-
toward him, darling out its tongue
still more frequently, and when about
a ward distant. made a violent spring.
Jarvis caught it in his right hand,
directly under its head, and squeezed
it with all his power. Its eyes almost
| started out of its head it dashed its
body on the ground, at the same time
rafting loudly. He watched an OPP
| portunity. and suddenly holding the
animals head while for a moment it
drew in its forked tongue, with his
left hand he, by a violent contraction
Of all the muscles of his hand. contrived
TO close effectually its jaws.
Much was now done, but much more
was to be done. He had avoided much
danger, but he was still in very peril
Gus circumstances. If he moved his
right hand from its neck for a moment
the snake, by avoiding s~utfocation,
| could easily muster sufficient power to
force its head out of his hand and if
he withdrew his hand from its jaws
he would be in the power of its most
dreaded fangs. He retained. therefore,
his hold with both his hands. He drew
its body between his thighs in order
to aid the compression and hasten suf-
location.
Suddenly the snake, which had re-
NAMED quiescent for a few minutes,
brought up its tail, hit him violently
on his head, and then darted its body
several times very tightly oun his
waist. Now was the acme of his dan
ger. Thinking, therefore. that he had
sufficient power over its body, he with
drew his rich hand from its neck and
took the work of a moment) his large
sailors knife out of his pocket. He
bent his head on his knee, and It's