The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1894-08-24
. NEW STYLE OF SNAKE.
A Valuable Addition to the Ser
pentine Family.
The Boaconda Was New One on the
Drummer, But the Mild hammered
Mans Story Did Not Knock Him
Out Altogether.

81 remember once. said long
haired man with a mild manner and a
dreamy voice, after the drummer had
finished pretty stiff snake story, says
the Chicago Times, Il remember once
when l was in the uneXplored regions
of the upper Amazon, L had an adven-
ture with boaconda and"
Hold up" interrupted the drummer,
what Is boaconda? I've heard of boa
constructors and anacondas, but never
of a bOacOnda."
1.-The boaconda," explained the
dreamy-eyed man, pleasantly, lis
snake, unknown as vet to most natural
lists, and it Is a cross between the ana
cOnda and the boa, with this remarlla-
BILE popularity, that it has two heads.
Like its cOngeners, however, its bite is
not poisonous. and il swallows its vic
Tins. AS l was saying, | had an ad-
venture on one occasion with one of
these monsters which | think | shall
not soon forget. One morning | had
gone into the forest with native I,
hunt, and in the course of my ramble.
/ saw a beautifully-hued bird of tn,
parrot family. in a tree. and / shot 1t
The bird caught in the branches. anG
my attendant having become separate,
from me, l concluded to climb for tn,
bird myself. When had reached tn
lower limbs with my prize | saw
stretched on one of them, the largest
sized boaconda, with its four wicked
eyes watching me
The shock of this sight was so great
that l started violently, lost my bal
ance and fell from the tree lighting
full upon my back with such force a:
to knock me entirely senseless. How
long l remained in this condition do
not know, but when l recovered felt
as if my legs We're fixed in a wise, and
being unable to move them l be
came convinced that | had injured my
spine and was paralyzed. After sew
eral Intellectual attempts to move !
raised myself on my elbow and looked
down at nv legs. You can imagine my
surprise, not to say horror. when lying
close to my body, on each leg. / saw
half of each head of that dreadful ser
pent- Why l should only see half
could not explain to myself. and befOr,
/ could investigate | had tainted. Thi,
was of short duration, and presently |
was myself again and. taking another
look. | found the serpent still there.
Then | began to understand and in q
minute more l knew that the reptile
had attempted to swallow me, for OF
my hands and face l could feel tn,
slime with which these brutes anoint
their victim before they begin to swal-
low them.
Evidently this one had not been very
careful in its calculations. or. possibly.
had never attempted to swallow a hui
man being. for it was plain to be seen
that each of its heads had commenced
on each of my legs, and when that much
of me had been swallowed the re-
mainder could not very well be. for rea-
sons not necessary to explain here. In
any event, that part which had beer
swallowed had stuck in the two throats
and while l was helpless the snake wa
in no better fix. What to do was tn,
question now, and having become some
what accustomed to my position l wa
cool enough to think of some way ot
escape.
While revolving various plans in my
mind my eyes wandered to one side.
and there, within reach. lay my double
barreled gun with one load in it. The
next instant l had hold of it. and the
next had slipped in another cartridge
and was ready for war. l couldn't
shoot the snake in the head unless
shot my legs of, but l calculated that
it, heart must be somewhere near the
point II juncture Of the necks, which
was about three feet from the tip OF
the nos Toward that point, then.
slowly slipped the gun. and. when
had got a. far a. l could. / shut my
eyes, brcathed a prayer, and let both
barrels 20. IL almost tore the great
budy 81 the snake asunder, and in it,
death thrues ! was beaten around the
bush in terrible fashion for a minute or
two, until was thrown out of reach.
In half an hour / had recovered suffi-
ciently To walk, and l started back to
the village with blood in my eye for
that native attendant who had deserted
me"
Did you find him?" asked the drum
mer anXiOusly. as the story teller
seemed about to stop at this point. And
did you slug him?"
NO" said the dreamy-voiced man.
Providence did that for me. | mean, y
he said, correcting himself, that provi-
dence took the matter out of my hands.
On my way back to the village /
noticed huge anaconda asleep by the
pathway and, as l wanted the skin of
one, l drove my knife through the head
of the sleeping reptile and proceeded
to denude it of its integument. | OBJ
served, as l thought, that it had swal-
lowed lamb and was sleeping off the
effects of it, but what was my surprise
when l cut into it to find within the
body of my attendant who had ac-
companied me out to the forest in the
morning" The dreamy-voiced man
looked piously up toward the ceiling OF
the smoker and was silent a moment
Was he dead?" inquired the drum
mer, and the dreamy-voiced man
seemed lost in thought
RELIGION AND REFORM.
Clio Al Sr.nnHS 10 T.