The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-09-19
IN A SERPENT'S COILS.
TaRIaLING RxPB OF AN
ORCHID HUNTER IN zULULAND.

Hill by Fisrce and Deadly Cobra.
| From The Neto York Recorder.
CAPE Town, SOUTH AFRIoA-Go to Zu.
luland If you are fond of snakes; il you are
not, but fear their poisonous fangs and
murderous embraces, cast your Ines else
where. In the summer OF 1884 three young
Englishmen aud myself purchased a wagon
and span OF oxen, and. provi1iug our~
selves with the necessary arms, provisions
and servants, started from Durham, Natal,
on hunting trip through zululand and the
Transvaal Republic.
1t was bright sunny morning when,
leaving my companions at the wagon, /
strolled into the woods near our encamp-
| ment, accompanied by one OF our Zulu serv-
ants. NY object was peaceful one, viz. g,
to make collection Of the orchids in the
vicinity, an occupation always Accordingly
interesting to any one possessing the slight
est botanical knowledge. I had been fairly
| successful In the accumulation OF terrestrials
and we had advanced into the heart OF the
forest. when a beautiful epiphyte on the
upper branches of graad old forest king
attracted my attention and l started to
climb the tree 30 secure the prize.
| WITH OPEN JAWS.
The climbing was not difficult as the
| limbs OF the trees were close together and [
was soon wIthin reaching distance Of the
plank As l stretched out my right hand 10
grasp It heard my servant yell out in un-
mttigoted terror: "Buks, buka, 'nkosi
'nyoEa pszulu 'nthloko yako" look, look,
| captain A snake above your head Glanc-
ing upward, l saw, swinging to aud fro,
level with my head and slightly In front of
me, large green snake, known in South Az
riea as the boom slang tree snakel very
venomous and greatly dreaded by the wood
cutters OF the country. The reptiles jaws
were stretched to their utmost and its
| forked tongue was working nervously In
and out Of its mouth with the rapidity OF a
| lightning flash. Backward and forward it
swung, while /, dangerously attracted by
the concentrated evil expressed in the
bright glitter Of its Internal eyes, felt no in
cllnation for the moment to stir.
Its tail was entwined around thin
branch about four feet above me and its
body uudulated gently as II moved by the
zephyr breeze which stirred the leaves of
the tree. For two or three seconds we re-
manned thus, when his snakeship made a
rapid snap at my uplifted hand, which had
not yet seized the orchid l was after. In
masking this pass at me he had drawn his
| eyes from mine, and the spell was broken.
l withdrew my hand instantapeously, and,
1 as its faugs snapped horribly together
seized the snake tightly by the neck. The
| reptile Wriggled violently, nearly causing
| me to lose my balance, but | contrived 10
maintain my hold for about half a minute,
| when 1t loosened its tail from the bough
above aud attempted to coil itself around
my body. My fear was that be would suo-
| coed In getting his tail around my neck, in
| which event | stood as great q chance of
being strangled as did Of dying from the
effect of his bite should he get out of nv
hand. Consequently l extended my arm as
far as possible from me and bent my body
back.
In this position I began to descend the
tree by dropping from bough to bough
with my left hand. had not gone many
feet when, despite my strenuous efforts to
prevent his accomplishing It, the snake
managed to throw his body over the thick
| part OF my arm ADD instantly cuied itself
round and round from wrist to bicep. The
pressure OF its coil was so Intense that
feared | should be compelled to break my
| grip on its neck.
KNIFED AT LAST.
| Apart from the actual pain. of the press
| ure aud the weigho of the serpent my arm
| was twisted completely around, and | al
most fancied could hear the bones crack
ing. It was, therefore, with extreme diff.
Guilty that descended from bough to bough
| until within eight feet Of the base OF the
tree, when, gfasping a decaysd branch,
down came, bead first, to the ground, with
my friend still In my hand. Fortunately,
the fall DID NOT stun me, and my clutch did
not relax sufficiently to allow the snake to
extrioste his head.
The Zulu boy, who had been an open-
mouthed witness Of the occurrence, now
drew his knife and, while held the serpent
against the trunk of the tree severed its
head from its body. The rest of the snake
was easily uncoiled from my arm, which
had become all shades, from black to green
| owing to the tight fit OF my singular
bracelet 1t was a couple of weeks after
| this before l could use the muscles of my
1 arm with fr eedom.
A few weeks after this we were in another
| part OF Zululand and my three companions
had gone on two-days' hunt with some
traders. l remaining TO look after our outfit.
| The evening was very sultry. and instead
| Of sleeping in the wagon, as | usually did
| spread my blankets on the ground and slept
| with the azure canopy Of heaven above me.
| know no more delightful feeling than
| that or waking up under starlit summer
| sky In Africa, with the refreshing night
breeze softly flaming your cheek !;
but on this special occasion as
l woke / was conscious Of creepy SEN
| sation about my neck, which took all the
romance out of the situation. Feeling cau~
tiously to ascertain the cause. was horri-
fled 10 feel my fingers come in contact with
| the moist body Of a snake. The position
was fearfully trying to the nerves. l dare
not shout to the wagon boys, who were
sleeping within ten yards OF me, still less
could | venture to roll away. The least
movement on my part might cause the Wis
itor to fasten his fangs in my neck
So there | lay. hoping against hope that
one OF the snoring natives would wake up
and discover my position. To make the
| situation still more intOlerable first my nose
began TO itch consumedly. then the tickling
sensation spread to every Individual inch OF
my anatomy aud each itched worse than the
| other, and l dared not scratch or move In
| any direction. had no means Of knowing
where the snakes head lay, or how far it
had coiled itself around my neck. Ia fact.
| it seemed to me, as | lay counting the seq
onds, that its body was in contact with every
part of my frame.
Slowly and YEARLY the minutes dragged
on until 1 began to think that eternity had
surely arrived, and that the sun never in
tended lighting up this globe again. Then
the gray light in the east gave me some
comfort. but not much, for was now tor
tured with the fear that my companion
might wake and perhaps give me bite or
two just by way Of reminder that we had
passed the night together, or that the Zulus
in getting up would disturb the snake and
anger him.
A DEADLY PUFF ADDER.
10 hand uvaa t,rpod