The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1888-07-12

gions. 1t was not monstrous serpent =,
one of those colossal reptiles which,
asleep on the banks of river or the
edge of forest, present to the eyes of the
traveller the appearances of the body of a
tree broken and thrown down by the
tempest. 1t had nothing of those gigan-
tic proportions which are the admiration
of the people of Europe, when, by
these kings of the Orinoco is displayed
to their view. 1t was
THE YELLOW SERPENT!
He who had seen its small and slen-
der form might have refused to
believe that so frail a creature could
throw enough poison to kill a quail; and,
| nevertheless, it was one of those reptiles
SO deadly that the bite kills a man in less
than three minutes. The slave knew
what to expect on this point. He re-
manned in the most complete immobility.
Not for the empire of the Americas would
he have lifted his eyes. He would have given
twenty years of his life to have been away
from his enemy. Nevertheless, the enemy
remained in his place. Strengthening
himself III light spir4ls, he glided
over the glass, his head shaded
with tins Eof yellow OGRE and
orange; his velvet eyes, soft as the azure
of heaven, shone like diamonds. He
seemed to drink in the air with delight,
and to present, turn by turn, each part of
his body to the rays of the sun. For any
one ignorant of the danger, it would have
been pleasure to see this little animal so
lively, so delicate, SO graceful, in all its
movements. Then suddenly 1T began to
bound here and there, from one blade OF
grass to another, tracing in the air rapid
burrows, and making a slight mise similar
to the rusJling of silk. The slave WAS
dying with fright. Very soon more dis
tinct noi5e was heard. 1t appeared that
the grass was violently shaken. His tim
orous imagination Immediately pictured
to him whole family of serpents ready
to spring npon him. He thought that his
last hour had come, and finally, becoming
reckless, in the excess of his despair, he
dared to raise his head. But he made this
movement with much less grace and
| lightness than the little reptiles, whose
venom he thought he already felt IN his
veins. Then an unexpected sight struck
| him at once with establishment
and Joy. The serpent had
| Just entered into fight with
bird. The slave knew, thanking God ,
that there was no longer any fear for him
and he arose to fly, when he observed that
the serpent had already lost nearly all its
strength. Curiosity retained him; the
post Was no longer dangerous; he wished
to see the end of the fight. 1t was, as is
usually the Gaze, fierce struggle between
small things. Under its elegant plumage,
the bird struck rapidly with pointed
claws, while its sharp bill inflicted deep
wounds. The enraged serpent
lay close to the ground under
the grass, furrowed the air
in all directions, called to its aid all its
strength and all its cunning, plunged into
the river to escape the blows of its adver
sary; but, under the grass, in the air and
even at the surface of the water, it still
found its enemy, and the struggle would
recommence with new fury. Only at in
tervals the bird seemed to accord the SER
pent kind of truce; it left it in its re-
treat, and flew, torn and bleeding, to
wards neighboriDg bush. Then it pecked
off few leaves and some pieces of
bark, swallowed them precipitately. and,
retaking its flight towards the place of
combat, renewed the charge. The slave
was still there; he was astonished at see =
ing the serpent, almost dead, and the
bird full of life, although bitten all over
the body. He asked himself what this
veuCmous bird could be which killed ser
penis and braved their fapgs. These
ideas confused hin. He thought that he
was dreaming. But he soon could doubt
this no longer; the serpent lay lifeles5; the
bird, itself, appeared upon the point of
expiring; its wings dragged; its eyes
were dull; its breathing painting and
painful. But the trouble did
not last long. The bird re-
regained its bush, began to eat some
wings, returned to the scene of battle,
perched itself for a moment upon the
dead body of its adversary, smoo he'd
with its bill its rumpled feathers, and
uttering little cry of JOY took its flight
towards the south. The slave, subse-
quently, made an exhibition Of his dis
covery in the public place of the city of
Caracas. Hundreds (among them the
governor) we're assembled to see the ex-
pertinent made with the leaves of the
shrub, which the slave had so miragulously
discovered was an sntidote for the bite OF
the deadly yellow serpent. The
slave ohewed in advance handful
of the leaves, then fearlessly made
the serpent bite him above the heart.
The people uttered cry of terror, but
the slave TRANQUILITY seated himself upon
q stone. After the lapse of an hour, the
o,ovarnor pnDrOached him freed him in