Connecticut western news., 1889-05-22
An Extraordinary Tale.

publishes the following extraordinary account of the depredations and capture of monster snake:
 "During the last two months it has been matter of frequent complaint among the inhabitants of the districts east and north of Arima that their do- mestic animals of all kinds were being lost in strange, unexplained manner, usually at night. Scarcely day seemed to pass without goat or a pig, calf or donkey being reported missing, and latterly even larger animals, some valu- able mules and horses, had gone to join the smaller domestic fry that had disap peared. Among the sufferers, MT. John Agostini of Aripo, lost two mules within five days on his cocoa planta- tion, and MT. J. G. de Cannes, in vis- iting some young cocoa cultivation of his in Turure, had lost his horse which he had left to graze for only half an hour, at distance of about hundred yards from the spot where he was talk ing with contractor. At first the peo- pie of the district were inclined to lay the blame on thieves of novel and daring description, but the evidence soon be- came clear that it was some wild, mon- strous animal that was working the havoc among the stock. A strange feature of these depredations was that no trace of blood was ever found at the spot visited, or in the neighborhood, to show sign of some struggle with giant cayman or carnivorous beast, which the monster was at first supposed to be. Besides no animal of the size required to carry off horse or mule was known to exist in the island.
 ''In many of the cases, however, it was noticed that the ground under the cocoa tress and the forest undergrowth showed signs of having been crushed, not trampled upon, by the body of some smooth but gigantic beast. The people began to watch at night, no alarm as yet making known the passage of the mon- ster on his raids, save the barking of dogs, a few of which had also disap- peared with dismal howls. It was also noticed that the traces through the vege- tation always stopped at streams, and seemed to vanish alto yether. after that. This feature was clearly established in the case of the Aripo, Turure, and Arima Rivers. Up to Saturday last the beast had succeeded in eludlng notice, trans ferring his attention to quarters unvisited by him, as if aware of the watch kept for him in those he had already visited; and the neighborhood of streams con- tinued to be his favorite resorts from the mountains north of Arlma and Turure.
 "On Sunday morning the inhabitants of Arima were thrown into consterna- lion by the news that three children had disappeared in the ward of Guanapo during the past week, and they were supposed to have become the victims of the raiding monster. Their names were given as Maria Conception, Marc An toine and Carmen Baptista. The grief of the parents and relatives of the missing children was described as heartrending In the extreme. MT. Harragin, the Warden, accompanied by the magistrate and others, hastened at once to visit the scenes of the casualties. The news was telegraphed to Port of Spain, and the Warden was instructed by the Governor to continue his efforts to track the monster, especially by collecting an armed posse and instituting energetic pursuit.
 'tLater in the afternoon news was brought from Aripo that two children, Paul and Rose Legrand, brother and sister, had been lost, one on Saturday and one on that very morning. In this
 
 stricken eye witness of the carrying off of her little boy aged three years. It scems that while sitting in a state of semi stupor, mourning the loss of her little daughter Rose, five years old, who had disappeared in the grounds round her hut Saturday at noon without any trace being found of her, she was startled by the screams of her child Paul, who was playing few yards from her. Rooted with horror, she then saw her child en- veloped in the coils of the upper part of the body of colossal snake, which glidcd away with its prey into the depths of the forest. A number of residents of the district, armed with guns, to whose ranks new accessories were continually coming, began to SCOUT the country after the snake, among them Jose Concepclon and Paul Le- grand, ST., fathers of two child vic tins, on whose grim features was writ ten a quenchless determination to wreak vengeance deep and dire on the fiendish serpent. Dogs were literally used in the hunt, but as often as the scent was obtained and followed for a short dis ,ance some stream would disconcert the hopes of the pursuers. A tendency was ooticed, however, on the part of the many tracks to show an unmistakable direction toward the mountains north of AxinA