The Bossier banner., 1890-08-21

to be seen, for
the winged inhabit tyants of the forest, over.
come by heat had retired to the thfckest
shades; all would have been like mid
night silence were it not that the shrill
voice Of t,Ae pi-pi-Yo every now and then
resoune. ed from distant tree. I was
sitting with Horace" in nv hand,
VII en- negro with his little dog came
Gown the hill in haste, and informed
me that a snake had been discovered.
and that it was a young one called the
hushmaster, rare and poisonous breed.
I Instantly rose up, and laying hold of
an eight-foot lance which was close by
me, started to have look az the mon
ster. Twas barefoot, with an old hat
and check shirt and trousers on, and a
pair of braces to keep them up. The
negro had his cutlass, and we asoended
the hill; another negro, armed with a
cutlass, joined us, judging from our pace
that there was something to do. The lit
tie dog came along with us, and when we
got about half a mile in the forest, the
negro stopped, and pointed to fallen
tree; all was still and silent. told the
negroes not to stir from the place where
they were, and to keep the little dog in,
and that would go on and reconnoiter.
advanced up to the place slowly and
cautiously, At last I made the snake
out; it was not poisonous, but large
enough to have crushed any of US to
death.
On ascertaining the size of the serpent,
retired slowly the way came, and
promised four dollars to the negro who
hfd shown it to me, and one to the 9TH
er who had joined us. Aware that the
day was on the decline, and that the
approach of night would be detrimental
to the dissection, l thought that I would
take IL alive, I imagined, if l could
strike with the lance behind the
head, and pin him to the ground, I
might succeed in capturing him. When
told this to the negroes, they begged
ana entreated me to let them go for a
gun and bring more force, as they were
suFe the snake would kill some of us;
Pat had been in search of large SER
pent for years, and now having come up
With one, it did not become me to
turn soft. So, taking a cutlass from one
Vt the negroes, and then ranging both
the sable slaves behind me, I told them
to follow me and that would cut them
down if they offered to fly.
When we got up to the place, the
serpent had not stirred. I could see
nothing of its head, and I judged by
the folds of its body that it must be at
the furthest side of his den. A species
Of woodbine had formed complete
mantle over the branches of the fallen
tree almost impervious to the rain or
the rays of the sun. Probably the
snake had resorted to this sequestered
place for length of time, as it bore
the marks of an ancient settlement. l
now took my knife, determining to cut
away the woodbine, and break the
tNigs in the gentlest manner possible,
I'LL ! could get view of his head. One
negro stood guard close behind me with
the lance, and near him the other with
cutlass, The cutlass which l had
taken from the first negro was on the
ground close by me in case of need.
After working in dead silence for a
quarter of an hour with one knee all
NE time on the ground, had cleared
away enough to see his head. 1t APP
peared coming out between the first and
second coil of his body, and was fat on
me ground. This was the very position
wished it to be in. / rose IN
silence and retreated very slowly, MAX