Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1890-08-29
THE DEADLlEsT OF ssRpENTs.
killing Two Cooras on Sunday Morning
I'm Far of India.

India, without cloud IN the braZen
skies. We had just come home from
early morning service, and had taken
our seats at the breakfast table. At
the open door of our dining-room our
Telugu school teacher appeared. say
ing: "Sir, big cobra has just been
chasing frog through the whole
length of your front veranda. He
struck ut it again and again as IL
sprang past the open doors of your sit
ting room, but the frog uttering pierre
ing shrieks Gas frog can when pur-
sued by serpent), sprang each time
quick enough to elude its jaws, and to-
gether they rushed OF the end of the
veranda. and the frog sprang under
box that is standing there. too near
down upon the hard floor for the big
cobra TO get under, and so escaped"
We'll" said /. "where is the
cobra nowp" That is just what /
don't know" said he. for while was
looking to see what had become of the
frog, how he had got away the cobra
disappeared among the flower pots.
and, / cannot see where he has gone"
HE must have a hole there close by
the veranda somewhere" said /. "Will
you please go and watch until come,
and sec if you can get sight of him
again for he must be killed if possible
if he lives rs near the house AS that"
don't 60 a shooting on Sunday. but
/ went for my pistol then. for i con-
sidered it decidedly work of necessity
and mercy to pat an end to the danger
of ourselves or our people being bitten
by that deadly cobra. Soon appear
ing with revolver. which | keep for
travelling through the jungles by
night, l went hunting for the cobra's
hole.
Two large native flower pots stood
about six feet from the end of the We
randa. with each beautiful rose grow
ing in il, of which my wife was very
fond and beside which she almost
daily stood picking off dead leaves, or
watering and tending the roses. Isoon
discovered hole in tine ground about
as large as my wrist, partly concealed
by the grass that was growing right be-
tween the two flower pots, which were
far enough apart for person to stand
between them. The hole went down
perpendicularly, growing larger rs it
went deeper. 1t took but moment
TO bring hand mirror and throw the
reflection of the bright sun right down
into the hole. 1t revealed horizontal
chamber only a foot or so deep. and
the glistening scales of cobra coiled
up ut rest.
Takinga piece of broken wagon
tire in my hand to stop up the hole. l
fired down into the hole. Not mo-
ton was seen. | had missed. Turn
ing the tire up edgewise | fired again.
What squirmiug there was! The
cobra had been wounded. He struck
up viciously ut the iron, which was
turned down Hat as soon rs / fired, to
keep him from darling out mt us. |
turned the iron edgewiSe and fired
again. When had unloaded the sixth
barrel let him strike his head out. and
caught it against the side with the iron
tire. | had brought out with me pair
of large hedge shears. With these |
caught hold of his protruding neck,
and, with stout pull with both hands,
pulled him ont and gave him flirt out
into the compound. What a scatter
ing there was of men, women, and
children! My attention had been so
taken up by the snake that / had not
noticed what a crowd had gathered
around. How they screamed and ran!
for they did not know that the grip of
the shears had dislocated the fellows
peek, and, seeing full-si:ed cobra 1y-
ing out toward them. they seemed to
think that he was sprinGing ut them.
AS had grasped the head of the
cobra with the shears. l had given the
wagon tire to the teacher, asking him
TO insert the end again instantly that l
drew the cobra out. fer where one
cobra is you will usually fiad a second.
| came back aud threw the rays of the
sun in again. Yes, there were bright
cobra's scales and another cobra wig
CLING. Loading my pistol again l re-
peated the firing hoping that he would
strike his head up out, SO that l could
catch his head also. S1uirm and
strike as he did, his head did not come
out of the hole until / fired many
times; but it finally came. Ynd ! SCI
cured him also. On drawing him out
ard examining him closely, we found
fourteen pistol ball holes through his
body, aud still there was fight in him.
huN iHlCc vi lHt NONuuS WOulu nuNC
proved fatal in time; but he died maxi
ing n splendid fight. We laid the
cobras out in the veranda and meas
ured them. One of them measured
five feet eleven inches, and the other
six feet and two inches, than which one
rarely finds cobra larger. Their
hole showed that they had evidently
been living there, right among the
flower pots that were tended daily and
within six feet Of our veranda and
within twelve feet of my study door.
for weeks or months. Though the
cobra is the dcadliest serpent known
and thousands of persons die of their
bite yearly in India, no one in our mis-
sion has every been harmed by ONE
ChriStian I1teiIigencer.
Gander and Rat.