Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1889-02-07
In A SNAKES THROAT.
Almost Swallowed by an Immense
Roa Constructor.
An Adventure on the Accommodating
tho Reptile i'm Two and Rescuing
the Victim of Its Voracity
"A Close Call.

Locating our camp on suitable.spot
on the south shore of the Amazon, as
nearly as that river can be said to have
any shore, Murilla and | proceeded to
make daily excursions into the forest
in all directions, usually leaving two
OF the boatmen in charge of the camp,
and taking the other two along to car
ry supplies. The concession proved to
be a most magnificent forest. Mahog-
any trees were there by the thousand
needing but the woodman's axe and
transportation down the river to fetch
250 pounds apiece. The tract was in
tersected by creeks in all directions,
along which timber might readily be
floated to the river.
1t was some ten days after our ar
rival at the concession, when | took
Murilla with me for short expedition
into the forest. 1t was feast day
with the Indians, and as we intended
to return before evening we left them
all four in camp, merely providing our
selves with a round of hard-tack
apiece and some cold venison for lunch.
AT noon, where we sat down to eat our
lunch, Murilla discovered near by q
clump of low bushes bearing a yellow
ish berry. This fruit he professed to
recognize as a familiar variety which
he had often eaten down toward the
coast, though he had never seen any
before SO fur in the interior. After
testing them he pronounced them de-
licious, but of somewhat different
flavor to those on the east coast.
We both ate of the berries liberall Y
without the least suspicion of injuri-
Gus effects, finding them, as Murilla
declared, delicious Ten minutes after
eating the first berry, however, both
OF us became thrilled with a strange
exhilaration We became almost de.
liriously happy, Murilla bursting Out
in the Portuguese doggerel with bois-
ferrous hilarity as though intoxicated
with absinthe. AS for myself, my
whole nervous system tingled with
pleasing excitement to the very finger
tips | was fairly intoxicated.
have vague recollection of making 9
ludicrous resolve to check my own
wild impulse to sing by nodding my
head in rhythmic approval of Murilla's
vocal outburst--of seeing Murilla rol
over on the ground. and Immediately
following his example. Then all be.
came q blank.
This happened about midday. Not
until nearly sunset on the following
day did consciousness again slowly
commence to assert itself. | ther
awoke-ifa a foggy idea of trying te
extricate ones self from a hideous
nightmare can be called an awakening
with horrible sensation of help
lessness. 1t seemed as though the
lower half of my body was numbed ano
paralyzed by heavy pressure from all
directions. A vague impression thai
my lower limbs we're dead and all the
blood forced out of them into the upper
part of my body crept over me. My
eyes seemed starting from theil
sockets almost, singing was in my
ears, and my breath came in laboret
pants; my throat was hot and dry
with raging thirst l was not ye
fully returned to my senses; like one
: drugged with chloroform, or person
freezing to death, my natural inclina.
tion was to let things take thei
course. 1t seemed useless to think o
trying to extricate myself from tn,
vise-like embrace that appeared t
clutch me as in rubber mold a
terrible tension, from the waist down
II was only nightmare which would
pass away in a little while. And yet
il couldn't be nightmare, for wa,
dimly conscious of being awake afte
all. and not asleep and dreaming.
Realizing this, by supreme effor
of the will | aroused my well-nigl
dormant faculties to a sense that some
thing terrible was the matter. Tn
numbness had not reached my arms
and tried to raise myself up-I wa
iv;ar face downward. As l strove b
rise I was dragged backward severa
feet along the ground. Horriiied AM
bewildered. l raised myself up with
frantic effort. sufficient to look towar
mv helpless extremity. My Godl
was half engulfed in the throat oil |
monster boa This hideous reptils