The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-05-07
THE DEADL1Esr OF sERPENrs.
Killing Two Cobras on a Sunday
Morning.
From the Christian InteIliocncer.


From the Christian IIsteIli1elcer
1t was hot Sunday morning in India,
without cloud in the brazsn 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 ap-
peared. saying: "Sir, a big cobra nas just
| been chasing a frog through the whole
length OF your front veranda. He struck
at IL again and again as 1t sprang past the
| open doors of yonr sitting room, but the
frog, utterlng piercing Shrieks las a frog
can when pursued by a serpent. sprang
each time quick enough to elude its jaws,
and together they rushed off the end Of the
veranda, and the frog sprang uuder a 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 1. ''where is the cobra now?''
THAT is just what don't know" said he,
Tor while l was looking to see what had
become of the frog how he had got away,
the cobra disappeared among the flower
pots. and 1 cannot see where he has gone"
he must have hole there close by the
veranda somewhere" said l. Twill you
please go and watch until | come, and see
If you can get sight of him again, for he
must be killed if possible if he lives as near
the house as that"
| don't go a shooting on Sunday, but I
went Tor my pistol then. for l considered it
| decidedly work Of necessity and mercy to
put an cad to the danger of ourselves or our
people beng bitten oy that deadly cobra.
Soon appearing with a revolver, which /
keep for travelling through the iungIes by
night, l went to hunting for tue cobra's
hole.
Two large native flower pots stood about
| SIX feet from the end Of the veranda with
N in 81
which my wife was very fond, and beside
| which she almost daily stood picking off
| dead leaves, or watering and tending the
roses. | soon discovered hole in the
| ground about as large as my wrist, partly
| concealed by the grass that was growing
right between the two flower pots, which
were far enough apart for person to stand
between them. The hole went down per-
pendlcularly, growing larger as it went
| deeper. lie took but moment to bring
hand mirror, and throw the reflection of
the bright sun right down into the hole. IL
revealed horizontal chamber only foot
or SO deeA and the glistening scales of a
cobra coiNd up at rest.
| Taking piece of a broken wagon tire in
my left hand to stop up the hole with, and
| placing the end OF 1t slantingly in the hole,
fired down into the hole. Not a motion
| was seen. | had missed. Turning the tire
up edgewise l fired again. What a squirm-
ing there wasl The cobra had been
wounded. He struck up viciousy at the
iron. which was turned fat as soon as had
| fired, to keep him from darling out at us
l turned the iron edgewise and fired again.
| When | had unioaded the sixth barrel
let him strike his head out, and
caught it against the side with the iron
| tire. had brought out with me a pair of
largo hedge shears. With these | caught
hold of his protruding neck, and, with a
stout pull with both hands, pulled him out
and gave him a fiirt out into the compound.
| What scattering there was of men, women
and childreni My attention had been SO
taken up by the snake that l had not
| noticed what crowd had gathered around.
How they screamed and ran! For they did
not know that the grip of the shears had
dislocated the fellows neck, and, seeing
| full-Sized cobra flying out toward them,
they seemed to think that he was springinp,
| at them, -:
| As had grasped the head of the cobra
with the shears, had given the wagon tire
| to the teacher, asking him to insert the end
again instantly that | drew the cobra out.
| for where one cobra is you will usually find
a second. | came back and threw the rays
of the sun in again. Yes, there were bright
1 cobra's scales aud another cobra wriggling.
Loading my pistol again / repeated the
firing, hoping that he would strike his head
/ up out SO that | could catch his head also.
Squirm and strike as he did, his head did
not come out of the hole until | had
| fired many times, but he finally came,
and secured him also. On drawing him
out and examining him closely we
found fourteen pistol ball holes through his
body, and still there was fight in him. ANY
three of the wounds would have proved
fatal in time; but he died making a splendid
| fight. We laid the cobras out in the veranda
and measured them. One of them measured
| five feet eleven inches, and the other six
feet and two inches, than which one rarely
| finds a cobra larger. Their hole showed
that they had evidently been living there,
right among the flower pots that were
tended daily and within twelve feet of my
study door, for weeks or months Though
the cobra is the deadliest serpent known,
and thousands of persons die of their bite
yearly in India, no one in our mission has
ever been harmed by one.