The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1884-07-26

about the very worst thing I could have
done under the circumstances. that is,
! CROPPED for the door at all hazards, and
shouted for light. 1t was fire minutes
before this could be Obtained; the
sleeping Hindu will stand lot OF wax
ing, and is some tiTne collecting his
| wits from the realms of slumber and
the snake was gone. We found hole
IN the corner of the room through
which the experienced eyes Of my SER
wants at once discovered he had made
his exit. But as this only led into an
| inner wall dividing the rooms, / had the
discomfort of knowing that he shared
my bungalow, and would certainly
come again some other day. And so he
did or one like him three days later,
| and was sqpee zed to death in the hinges
OF the door, and in broad daylight.
| My next snake, remember, was a
large cobra whose bite is certain
death. Being fresh to the country, and
being determined not to be imposed
upon, had not grown to the habit OF
handing over all my belongings to the
care OF native servants, of whose Lam
! guage scarcely knew word, and of
whose integrity and honesty | had
heard none but the worst reports and
strove manfully to keep tight hand
over everything and every one, and,
from personal observation, to know
how ] stood in regard 10 supplies
and household requisites Of all
kinds and in particular. for
financial reasons, TO guard jealousy my
stock OF wines and teer- expensive
commodities in the Fast, and apt to
disappear miraculously. In word,
kept the keys Of my own stores and did
not ent ust them absolutely, as / after
ward saw the wisdom of doing, to my
khdnSGmG- (butler); and it was my GUS
tom then to issue a certain number of
bottles of wine or beer or timed meats,
etc, from out the go-doUn or store
room, rs occasion required. One end
Of the bungalow veranda was bricked
up to form a small store-room for such
comm dities; and it had ever been nv
custom to enter this somewhat dark
chamber with caution, owing to its be-
ing rather favorile haunt of scorpions
and centipedes; and the latter being
my pet aversion, / always kept sharp
lookout. On one occasion, however, /
was pushing aside large empty box
which had contained brandy, when. to
my horror, l saw a large snake repos-
ing therein. Escaping with great rap
idity, he co;led at bay on the floor with
hood expanded and eyes glistening saw
agely at me. Selling the box, | threw
1t at him and on him; whilst nv sery-
ant ran to the other end OF the veranda
Tor q SICK with which he was soon and
easily dispatched. On another occasion,
1 remember, in opening bathroom
door, mall but deadly snake, by some
means or other perched on top Of it, fell
straight on to my wrist and thence to
the moor; and, similarly, whilst seated
one morning on pony, inspecting
some repairs IN an outbuilding used as
a stable, the same species of snake fell
from the bamboo and thatch of the in
ner roof right on to my head, thence to
my left arm and the saddle-bow. and so
to the ground, where he escaped in some
straw. Some time later, in picking up |
handful of fresh-cut grass to give q
favorite Cabul horse, / felt something !
moving In my hand; and dropping the
grass, out wriggled q kraft, snake that I
for deadly poison ranks nearly next to
the cobra.
/ have heard of snakes. though I have
never seen one, lying concealed beneath
and under pillows. Twice.
however, on awaking in the morning
have found that l have been honorsd
with the company during the night Of
IN adder in my bedroom; and one morn
ing, on taking my seat at nv writing
iesk, / d sco7ered very large COBRA
nearly four and a half feet long living
1t full length at my feet close aosinsf
he wall. He made for the open air.
ind killed him in the veranda with 4
whilst the natives, as usual
n such emergencies, were rushing wild
v about, and searching in the most un-
likely corners for more effective weap-
IN. It was always salutary habit Of
nine, for which have to thank the
agaciiy of an old and faithful attend
int, to shake my riding boots, prepara-
DRY to putting foot into one Ito eject
! possible toad ensconced therein,
,r, rs would frequently happen, old
aamcherrun boldly thrust mis- bronze
myers in for the like pre- sutton; and
Then there happened to be toad or
rog inside. how the old rascal used to
make me laugh at the precipitate way