Evening journal., 1888-08-23
THE FER-DE-LANCE.
THE TERRIBLE REPTILE WHICH
REiGNS ~ MARTINIQUE.

Forests and Solitudes by Day, and the
Terror Of Roads and Parks by Night
Tho Cat Its Most Formidable Enemy.
Nature is dangerous here: the powers that
build here arc also the powers that putrefy;
here life and death arc pcrpetually inter
changing Office in the never ceasing transfer
nation OF forces, melting down and reshap-
ing living substance simultaneously within
the same awful crueible. There are trees dis
tillng venom; there are plants that have
| fangs; there are perfumes that affect the
brain; there are cold green creepers whose
touch consumes flesh like Gro; while in all
the receSses and the shadows is n swarnina
Of unfamiliar life, beautiful or hideous-in-
sect, reptile Notwithstanding devourine,
observing preying. Strange spiders Of
burning colors, immense lizards scaribs
cuirasssd in all tints Of metal, humming-
birds plumaged in all splendor Of jewel radi-
ance, flies that flash like fire, centipesles OF
gigantic growth. And the lord of all these.
tbs despot Of these vast domains, is tho ter
rible Fer-de-lanco, tie trigonocephelus. the
Bothrops lan2eolatns, the craspodecephalus.
deadhes% Of Occidental thanatophidia.
There are eight varieties Of him, the most
common being the gray speckled with black.
precisely the color tiPat enables the monster
to hide himself among the roots Of the trees
by simply ceiling about them and concenlinr
his triangular head Sometimes he is a bean
tiful flower yellow; then he may never be
distinguished from the branch Of bright ba-
nanas among which he hangs coiled: or he
may be a dark yellow, OF yellowish brown.
or the color OF wine lees speckled with pink
and black, or perfect ash tint, or blacl, with
yellow belly, or black with rose belly
r1l bf,oo Of ~p 81
putrefying trees, OF forest detlitus. The iris
Of the eye is orange, with red fashes at
night it CLOVIS like incandescent charcoal
And the fer-de-ance reigns absolute king
over the mountains and the ravines: no is
lord of the forests and the solitudes by dav.
and by night he extends his dominion over
the public roads, the familiar paths the
parks, the pleasure resorts. People must re-
main at home after dark unless they dwell in
the city itself; il you happen to DO ont visit
ing after sunset only mile from town, Your
friends will caution you anxiously not to fol
low the boulevard as you go back, and to
keep as closely AZ possible to tho very center
of the path. Evon in the brightest noon you
cannot venture to enter the woods unescorted:
you cannot trust your eyes to detect danger;
at any moment a seeming branch, a knot Of
lianas, pink or grny root, a clump of pen
writhe, swell, stretch, spring. strike. Then
you VIII need MD indeed, and most quickly;
for within the space of few heart beats
the stricken flesh chills. tumcfies, softcns,
changes color spots ylolaccously, and an lev
GOODNESS crawls through all the blood. II
tho physician or the Pauscur 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 ilcsh corrupts,
tattcrs, tumbles from the bone; and tho
colors of its putrefaction arc fIightful 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 moldcr as tho trees
moldcr; you crumble and dissolve as dis
solves tho substance OF tho balatas anu the
palms and the acomats; the Death-of-the-
Woods has seized upon you'll
And this pestilence that wall5eth in dark
ness, this destruction that wasteth at noon
sday, may not DO exercised. Each female
produces viviparously from forty to sixty
young at a birth. Tho haunts Of the crea-
ture are in many cases inaccessible, inexplor-
able; its multiplication is prodigious; it is
only the surplus Of its swarming that over
/ pours into tbs cane folds and makes tho
; high roads perilOus after sunset, yet to des-
troy three or four hundred thanatophidia on
a single small plantation during tho lapse OF
twelve months has not been uncommon. The
introduction OF the mRngouste the ichneu-
mon may, it is hoped, do much toward pro-
tecting the workers in the cane fields ana on
the cocoa and coffee plantations; but the
mangoustes powers are limited, and the
e ocean of death is illimitable
The experience Of fear has enabled doYncs-
2 tic animals TO discern the presence OF the
enemy while invisible to man. Your horse
reaTs and plungcs in tho darkness. trembles
, and sweats; do not try to ride ON until you
, are assured the way is clear-your animal
has perceived far ahead two Stimulating
points, two moving sparks OF fire Or your
dog may come running back, whining, shiv-
ering; accept his warning. Tie animals
kept about country residences have learned
to fight for their lives; the hen battles hope
i lessly fer her chickens, the bull tries TO gore
: his supple enemy, the pig gives moro sue
cessful combat; but the creature who fears
the monster least IS the brave eat. Seeing n
snake, she at once carries her kittens to q
place Of safety, then boldly advances to the
encounter. Sho will walk TO tho very limit
5 Of the ssrpcnts striking range and begin to
s feint, teasing hiIn, startling him, trying to
draw his blow. How the emerald and
j tho topazino eyes glow then-they arc
G flames. A moment moro and the tri-
e angular head, kissing FROM the coil,
1 flashes swift as il moved by wings. But
y swifter still the strong stroke Of the armed
paw that snitcg tho horror aside, fingiug it,
y mangled and gssping, in the dust. Never
q thecss, pussy does not yet dare 20 spring;
j. the enemy, still nctivc, has almost III
stantly reformed his coil; but she is again
f in front Of him, watching pupil
{ against vertical pupil. Again the lash
J. ing stroke; 9sahn th0 beautiful counter
v ing: tho living death Is hurled aside, the
scaled skin is 3esply torn, one eye socket has
ceased TO faIne. Once more tho stroke Of the
serpent; orco moro the light quick, cutting
q blow But now tAs trigonocephalus is blind,
y IS stupeled; before no can attempt to coil,
e pussy has leaped upon him, mailing the hor-
ribie fat head fast to the ground with her
: two sinewy paws. Now let him lash writhc,
" Irvine, strive to tangle her.-in vainl he will
/, never lift his head; an instant more and be
I. lies still; the fine white teeth have severed
the vertebrm just behind tho triangular
:, slulL-Lafacadio Hearn in Iarpers Maya
2ine
e Lady Salisbury.
@ Lady Salisbury is a very blue hlooled per
"a sonage, indeed. She has her political salon
II and dinners and receptions, at which nothing