The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-06-01
A Rattiesnake Concert.

"ralk about snakes" remarked an old
fronticrsman in conversation few evenings
ago, there are more snakes In Arizona
than ever existed in Ireland before good old
81. Patrick came along and gave them the
grand bounce. Why, l have been every
where; wadod southern swamps when I
would have to stop q minute, with the
water up to my chin to allow drove or
school OF water-mOccaSins or cotton mouths
to 90 by; up in the far northwest aud
British America have lived like fighting
cock aud to the queens taste for weeks at
time on snake. steak, but l saw more rat
snakes down In Arizona, last summer was
year ago than ever before In my life, all
put together. Down there they don't 70
in pairs, clusters or droves, but in columns,
just for the world like tho children Of Israel
got up and tramped out of Egypt with
Moses, and Aaron in the van, and Joseph,
with his circus coat, bringing up the rear.
and friend were over In the Tombstone
county, among the hills on prospecting
expedition. There were rattiesnakcs ali
around us, but they did not seem to be very
savage. We would scare them mp riding
along, and they would sneak away from
our track like coyotes. One day about Q
o'clock in the afternoon we were taking a
hill, and, as the ascent was worry sharp,
our horses would stop every few minutes
to blow. Long before we got to the sum-
nit we heard a strange noisc or rather
jargon of noises, apparently on tho other
side, and if we had been shot the next
minute We could not have told from whence
it cmauatcd. Why, it was worse than the
average church choir. Well, we got to
the top after while, the noise increasing
every step we took up. BY the time we
had got there 1t had become a little short
of terrific, and looking down over the side
we saw sight that took the cake
On a little plateau of perhaps fifty yards
dimensions, about seventy-fvc feet below
us, was Il regular ratt]csnake reunion and
concert. The ground and stones were Just
yellow with them, and if there was one
there were at least ten thousand snakes in
the gang. They were of all ages and sizes,
and how they enjoyed themselves. The
two oldest king-pin OF the crowd were in
the contre, and tile other snakes were all
gathered about them. Each and every
snake had coiled himself up in such man
ncr as to allow their tails and rattles good
play, and they were rattling away as if for
wages, and their wicked tongues were
darting out and in, keeping up an accom-
paniment to their tails. We looked at the
racket for about a minute, and then with
an awful flourish the rattling stopped
The two old snakes reared their heads at
least three feet off the ground, and looked
all around over the field in manner in
dicative of general on battle-ground
After scrveyiny the situation and apparent
ly seeing that every member of the snake
combination was ready for business, they
sounded a note by way of tuning up, and
tho whole crowd commenced their concert
again. 1t took them about ten minutes to
finish one tune, and we must have watched
them there through at least half dozen.
After while got tired of tho business,
and rolled Il rock down in the crowd.
This broke up the meeting without delay,
and, as several Of the snakes were crushed
20 death, the others set up an awful rat
tling, and crawled away to their respective
dens. L have been anon snakes all my
life, but that was the first snake concert
l ever " messed"