St. Landry democrat., 1879-10-11
A Terrible Doom.
HOW PRISONERS ARE ri NISllEn IN
NEW GUINEA.

HOW PRISONERS ARE PI NISIlEn IN
NEW GUINEA.
Louis Tyegcncc, French sailor, long
| d prisoner among the Sapuans, OF New
Guinea, thus describes the Scrpent's
Valley:
1t WIS IL dangerous undertaking to
travel through this opening, and no
| other way to kloOtar was known. AS
! we stood here to give our ponies II blow.
my guide volunteered to take mo back
! to the entrance of the valley, that |
might get Il better idea OF the way he
, had come. ] consented, and on my ap-
| preaching it's mouth was struck very
! trees Their clear stems ran up nearly
| IL hundred feet before the limbs began
! to appear on them, and were very thick.
Here, too, were many palm trees, whose
! fcathcrllkc plumes gave Il graceful ap-
| pcarancc to the whole valley. There
WAS also Il large tree flower in this val
| Icy, which was now in full bloom. The
flower was Il bright scarlet. which hung
suspended in long, folding pendants
j from the branches.
! At distance one might easily ima"in
! these scarlet trees to be trees OF fire.
! whose pendants, as they moved in the
i wind, We're the flames jumping and
lcapng. | was lost in admiration as
| contemplated these things: and as We
continued to advance up the valley,
! ncw beauties opened out before us.
"Stop. beware. Trcgan.' cried my
j guide, in warning tones.
stopped at once, and looking for
ward under his direction, saw vast
snake curlcd mp at the foot of Il tree in
front of lis. | could not Judge Of its
j length, yet it must have been very
great. Another and another Of these
t coils were pointed out by him, and had
an unpleasant sensation OF cool perspi
ration Oozing out OF the pores Of my
! skin.
"Take care, take care" he cried out
in terror, and, catching my pony by the
head, he pulled me back toward the
mouth of the valley.
After we had got away some twenty
yards. saw an immense boa COnstrlc
tor curled round the stem OF the tree
near which We had been standing. The
beasts neck was stretched some ten or
twelve feet over the pathway. and its
head kept rising and falling in much
the same way as have seen that Of d
turkey Wiggle about.
The terrible rcpti!c had evidently
been summing itself, and having been
awakened by our approach, had proceed
ed to uncoll its immense body i'll order
to obtain its mld-day meal. 1t was not
less than sixty feet long, am sure, for
counted ut least six coils around the
body of the. tree-allOwing seven feet
for the length of each coil, and fifteen
for the head and neck, made it about
sixty feet long.
After this we hurried back to the
guard and reported What he had seen.
Several OF the prisoners expressing
a wish to see the serpent, they We're
permitted to approach the mouth of
the valley to catch a diStaut glimpse of
the boa, with which they were quite
satisfied. I learned aftcrwavd-some
few Years afterward-that this valley
that the escorts really made a consider
: channel, whose approaches were care
. fully hidden by trees and rocks. This
; fact was concealed from the mining
population to hinder their return to
kootar. They knew of no other path
than that through the boa alley,
, and were too fearful Of its horrors to
: dare an attempt through it. Some had
/ indeed attempted to pass through it,
, but as they had never been heard of
\ again, it was universally believed that
they had been destroyed hy the ser
: pents, and there can be but little doubt
5 that such was the case.
}! have heard somewhere that an army
| was once stopped by great snake, and
t readily believe that the boas in this
! valley would hinder the progress of the
; bravest army, il not completely OBJ
\ struct it. From this point our road lay
t,1n al Lei, ,o1t ,1oi, f1n two l.
, running by the side of tall, thickly
; foliagcd trees. In about an hour from
: our leaving the valley was startled by
hearing a cry for help, the cry coming,
| as it seemed to me, from directly over
: my head.
/ On looking upward was mortified to
), see al unfortunate wretch fastened to a
{ tall tree by.means Of ropes, and neal
r him was small snake about eight feet
S long. The snake was standin" erect
and Kissing at the unfortunate man,
who was beating his hands wildly and
, trying to avoid the faDgs Of the ser
. pent.
: "Can VIC not help him p | asked,
| greatly excited.
+ "No; he is criminal, and must die.
. Better to die thus than wait to be
! starved or torn to pieces by the birds.
He is fOrtunat&,
: The snake Had now bitten the man
at least SO Judged, for he gave a scream
Of fear and pain, and he seized the
5 scrpent's head with his half-loesened
, hands. The venomons beast curled it.
: self rapidly around the neck and arms
I OF the poor man, and strove to draw its
: head to the mans face. But dcspera;;
ton gave the poor man strength. and
: for long time he resisted successfully.
, At last his strength failed and We saw
TO my great horror, the snakes fanss
{ steadily approaching the mans open
mouth, for he was nearly suftocated.
[ could look no longer, and, turning
my head away, continued my journey:
Again, | remarked that the old Chief
was indifferent, and gave no more than
a single glance at the unfortunate
criminal who was suffering so terrible
a death.
In another half mile we saw num-
Der OF birds hoyerins oyer y trpea and,
on oHr reaching it, saw another unfOrtu-
nate chained in its INNER br17,cheS He