Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-09-18
THE FER-DE-LANCE.
THE TERRIBLE REPTILE WHICH
RElGNS IN MARTINIQUE.

THE TERRIBLE REPTILE WHICH
RelGNS IN MARTINIQUE.
The Deadly Serpent Which Is Lord of the
Forests and solitudes by Day. and the
Terror of Roads and Parks by Night
The Cat Its Most Formidable Enemy.
Nature is dangerous here; the powers that
build here are also the powers that putrefy;
here life and death are perpetually inter
changing office in the never ceasing transfer
nation of forces melting down and reshap- |
ing living substance simultaneously within |
the same awful crucible There are trees dis
tilling venom; there are plants that have
fangs; there are perfumes that affect the
brain; there are cold green creepers whose
touch consumes flesh like fire; while in all
the recesses and the shadows is a swarming
of unfamiliar life, beautiful or hideous-in-
sect, reptile, misunderstanding devouring,
observing, preying. Strange spiders of
burning colOrs immense lizards, scaribs
cuirasscd in all tints of metal, humming-
birds plumaged in all splendor of Jewel radi-
ance flies that flash like fire, centipedes Of
gigantic growth And the lord of all these,
the despot of these vast domains, Is the ter
rible Fer-de-lance the trigonocephalus, the
Bothrops lanceolatus, the craspodecephalus,
deadliest of Occidental thanatophidia
There are eight varieties of him, the most
common being the gray speckled with black,
precisely the color that enables the monster
to hide himself among the roots Of the trees
by simply coiling about them and concealing
his triangular head Sometimes he is a beau
tiful flower yellow; then he may never be
distinguished from the branch of bright ha-
nanas among which he hangs cooled; or be
may be dark yellow, or q yellowish brown,
or the color of wine lees speckled with pink
and black or perfect ash tint, or black with
yellow belly. or black with a rose belly
all hues of tropical mold, of old bark, of
putrefying trees, of forest detrtus The iris
OF the eye is orange, with red flashes; at
night it glows like incandescent charcoal.
And the fer-de-lance reigns absolute king
over the mountains and the ravines; he is
lord of the forests and the solitudes by day,
and by night hi extends his dominion over
the public roads, the familiar paths, the
parks, the pleasure resorts. People must re-
the city itself; il you happen to be out visit
ing after sunset only a mile from town, your
friends will caution you anxiously not to fol
low the boulevard as you go back, and to
keep as closely as possible to the very center
of the path. Even in the brightest noon you
cannot venture to enter the woods unescurted
you cannot trust your eyes to detect danger:
at any moment a seeming branch, knot of
hanas, pink or gray root, a clump of pen
dant yellow fruit, may suddenly take life,
writhe, swell. stretch, spring, strike. Then
you will need aid indeed, and most quickly;
for within the space OF few heart beats
the stricken flesh chills, tumefles, softens,
changes color spots vlolaceously, and an lev
GOODNESS crawls through all the blood. Ii
the physician or the pauseur arrives in time
and no artery or vein has been directly
pierced, there is hope; but the danger is not
passed when the life has been saved. Ne.
crosis Of the tissues begins; the flesh corrupts,
tatters, tumbles from the bone; and the
colorS of its putrefaction are frightful mock.
cries of the hues of vegetable death, OF forest
decomposition, the CHASTITY pinks and grays
and yellows Of rotting trunks and roots melt.
ing back into the thick fetid clay that gave
them birth. You molder as ii +, tree
molder; you crumble and dissolve as dis
solves tho substance of the balatas and tbs
palms and the acomats: the Death-of-the
Woods has seized uron youl
And this pestilence that walketh in dark
ness, this destruction that wasteth at room.
day, may not be exercised. Each female
produces viviparously from forty TO sixty
young at birth. The haunts OF the crea-
ture are in many cases inaccessible, inexplor-
able; its multiplication is prodigious; it is
only the surplus of its swarmlng that over
pours into the cane fields, and makes the
high roads perilous after sunset, yet to des-
troy three or four hundred thanGt. phidia on
a single small plantation during the lapse of
twelve months has not been uncommon. The
introduction OF the mangouste the ichneu-
mon may, it is hoped, do much toward pro
tecting the workers in the cane fields and on
the cocoa and coffee plantations; but the
mangouste's powers are limited, and the
ocean of death is illimitable.
The experience Of fear has enabled domes
tic animals to discern the presence of the
enemy while invisible to man. Your horse
rears and plunges in the darkness, trembles
and sweats, do not try to ride on until you
are assured the way is clear-vour ani1na
points, two moving sparks of fire Or you
dog may come running back, whining shiv
ering; accept his warning The animal
kept about country residences have Learned
10 fight for their lives; the he battles hope
lessly for her chickens, the but~tries to gor,
bis supple enemy, the pig gives more sue
cessful combat; but the creature who fear
the monster least is the brave cat. Seeing
snake, she at once carries her kittens TO
place of safety. then boldly advances to tn
encounter She will walk to the very limi
Of the serpent's striking range and begin t
feint, teasing him, startling him, trying t
draw his blow. How the emerald an
the topaziue eyes glow then-they ar
flames moment more and the tr
angular head, Kissing from the col
flashes swift as if moved by wings. Bu
swifter still the strong stroke of the arme
paw that smites the horror aside, f1inging i
mangled and gasping, in the dust Neve
theless, pussy does not yet dare TO spring
the enemy, still active, has almost il
stantly reformed his coil; but she is aga
h front Of him, watching--vertical PUP
against vertical pupil Again the las
ing stroke; again the beautiful counte
ing; the living death is hurled aside, Il
scaled skin is deeply torn, one eye socket b
ceased to fame. Once more the stroke of Il
serpent; once more the light, quick, cuttii
blow. But now the trigonocephalus Is bin
Is stupefied; before he can attempt ito CO
pussy has leaped upon him, mailing the he
rible fiat head fast to the ground with h
two sinewy paws. Now let him lash, writf
Irvine strive to tangle herl-in vain! he W
never lift his head; an instant more and
lies still; the fine white teeth have sever
the vertebrH just behind the triangul
skull.-Lalacadio Hearn in Harper's Mag
zine
Lady Salisbury.