The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1878-10-07

anu tue pioeVy A'oAo t'No'N' D~'AHo -
-, p~.l..o., u yellow sunshine. Alliga-
tors were very common, snakes plentiful,
and the scorpion, the centipede and the
tree-leech were oftento be met with in he
more swampy and tangled tracks of the
woodland. But we, who were colonial
born, learn disregard of the creeping
things that surround us which astonishes
a new arrival from Europe, and l had
never in my life known what it was to
feel real fear of beast or reptile.
Watched my fathers retiring figure
until It disappeared amid the feathery
bamboos that lined the path, and then,
turning my tack on the white house
with its green veIandahs, walked on,
under the shadow of the great forest
trees. till r, aeAed the embankment of
the Minary Tank. Half-an- hours walk
ing brought me to within sight of ruin
| GUS summer-house, built on the edge of
| the lake by some former Dutch proprie-
tor, and yet surmouDted by large ball
ofgilded pith, perche1 on pole. Near
this summer-house it was my custom to
meet Oswald. And it would be but very
seldom thatwe were to meet, henceforth,
since poor fellow, he was to sail by the
Lord DathouSie, expected at Point de
Gale On the 8lst of the month.
On my way, I paused now and then,
familiar as was the prospect, to gaze up
on the wide expanse of the lake, the
silvery waters of which rolled away SO
grandly that it was hard to conceive that
what seemed almost entitled to take
rank as an inland sea could be actually
the work of human hands. Flocks of
wildfowl, with white wings and shrill
scream, lowered above the !swarns Of
gorgeously-tinted fish that swan around
the huge weed-beds, while here and there
among the red lotus blossoms appeared
what might have been easily mistaken
for floating log, but which l knew to be
an alligator. drowsily baskng in the
glad sunshine.
The heavy heat seemed to render ex-
ertion, even for the natives, difficult, for
1 saw no fisher, as usual, padding his
| light canoe or preparing his tough nets
of cocoanut fibre; and the very Cingalese
woodcutters had deserted their work,
leaving behind them great heap Of
hewn timber, in front of which, imbed-
ded in the spongy wood of cypress
tree, four or five short bright axes re-
manned sticking. Some few PAGES from
this heap was the ruinous summer-house,
and beyond it there lowered aloft the giant
talipot tree, with it's vast ser1ated leaves,
that serve the Cingalese for sail and
thatch and screen, beneath which Oswald
and | We're accustomed to meet.
To my surprise, and perhaps chagrin,
I did not at first see him for whom
I looked, and began to fear that he had
forgotten to keep his wonted tryst; bat
on drawing nearer, beleld sight tlat
for the moment froze my very veins with
horror, and caused the cry Of anguish
that rose to my lips to die away. Os-
] wald, lying on the turf among tne roots
| of the gigantic palm tree, seemed to be
asleep, overcome, probably, by the un-
/ usual heat, while around him was loosely
coiled something that resembled stout
rope, curiously streaked with black, and
orange, and white - something that
caused the withered leaves and crisped
grass to rustic, as 1t stirred, writhing.
had never seen living tic palunga,
but l knew at the first glance that the
snake before my eyes was no other than
large specimen Of that dreaded reptile,
which in Ceylon takes the position that
in Continental India belongs to the CO.
bra, for the bite of which there is no
known remedy. Twice within the last
three years, laborers on my fathers
plantation had been brought in, dying,
from the venom of tic palunga, but in
ColNu lHoldLltO CllC ohHl VI tuC Hdllfc
snake -charmers hal 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 immediate
neighborhood. This, however, was un-
questionably a tic palunga, many feet
long, and it had wrapped its coils as
though in hideous sport, around Os-
wald's limbs as he lay there, uncon-
scious.
The great fiat head Of the enormous
snake rested on the ground, among the
flowers and ferns. | could see it's eyes,
bright as jewels, fixed upon me. 1t
; showed for the moment however, no par
ticular sign Of anger or of distrust, but
contented itself with quietly contemplate
ing the intruder upon its haunts. As
stood, gazing on my sleeping lover and
the monstrous creature that lay, wake
full but quiescent, SO near to him, all the
stories of snakes that had ever heard