The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-07-07

noon next day, planning to give the snake plenty of time to gorge himself. When we came to the spot where we had left the carcass of the buffalo 1t was gone, and we followed the trail of the python upward of two miles before we found him. He had retired to ledge of rocks in the dense woods, and had dragged the heavy carcass with him. By close inspection of the trees we discovered that he had taken a twist of his tail around a tree, flung coil about the body and then pulled it along as men would have done by rope and tackle. One pull was twenty five feet in the clear, so that the snake must have been thirty feet long, and then able to gain few more feet by stretching. The scouts re- ported that he had about half swal- lowed the buffalo, and we thought 1t best to retire and wait another day. When we returned the python was lying across the rocks in c helpless state, his body distended, his eyes closed and death seeming to have taken place.
 We had a rough cage already con- structed, and, after one of the natives had slipped up and drawn a goatskin bag over the python's head and made it fast, we set to work and made him prisoner. He was not so far gone but that he struggled somewhat, but in the course of two hours we had him caged. Before gorging himself he had taken two twists of his tail around a rock. Some idea of his strength can be had when I tell you that seven men of us had hard tug to unwind those turns, while the snake was in help less state at that. We looked upon our cage as strong enough to hold an elephant, but the natives insisted on newer and larger bars, and it was well we took their advice. We had the cage on wagon, and had just returned from an elephant hunt, when the py- thon came out of his torpor and was rendered furious to find himself pris- oner. His misses could be heard 6 quarter of mile away, and he ex. haled such an odor and thrashed about so terrifically that we could not get a yoke of oxen to approach the wagon. Had the cage been less secure, he would surely have made his escape.
 About three weeks later, at a point a hundred miles distant, I went out from village one evening with two companions to lie in wait at pool for game. The place was the resort ot elephants, and the sun had scarcely gone down when five of them, all full grown, made their appearance. They were not over fifty feet away, and, as the short twilight was followed by a brilliant moon, we could see each beast almost as plain as if it had been mid- day. We were getting ready for 6 shot at the nearest, when he backed up to a tree about as large around as a mans body and began to rub himself. His actions caused the tree to wave as in great wind, and we were expect ing to see it uprooted, when the ele- phant suddenly uttered a blast of alarm, and tried to run away. The others trumpeted and dashed of, leav- ing him alonc. We could not at first make out what had happened, but presently native who had come out to us with food, crept up to our hid- ing place and whispered that the shaking of the tree had disturbed a large python, which, feeling insulted, had attacked the elephant. The beast was as large and heavy as the average elephant seen with a circus, and yet we saw him pulled to his knees as many as four times. He made dozen rushes to leave the tree, but the snake pulled him back each time, and two or three times came very near rolling him over. His tough hide prevented the serpent's fangs from inflicting in- jury, but with a coil or two around his body and tail hold in the tree the python made plaything of the great beast for fully quarter ot an hour. When, at last, the elephant got away, he seemed half scared to death, and the feeling that we had had close call from being made victims 30 unnerved each one of us that we packed up and returned to the village. I assert in all candor and honesty my firm belief that 8 full-grown python can hold an elephant fast or roll him over. He might not be able to crush and kill the big beast, but I lean to the opinion that he could even do that. believe that three of his coils around an object would have as much strength as four men at a ships cap- stan.
 While we were at Rangoon making preparations to go up the river on a serpent hunt, native boat came dowr with produce, and the crew informed us of the rendezvous of big snake which had made itself the terror of all boatmen. This was 6 true anaconda which species frequent the waterway and are seldom found far inland. IT a couple of days we were ready te