The Red Cloud chief., 1894-10-19
BATTLE WITH A BOA.
IT'S FOLD WRAPPED ABOUT HIS
WINDPIPE.


forest, writes G.. X. ORcilly Of the
Ireland Royal geological society, when
over for any length Of time ! made
my headquarters in any village or
settlement. | almost invariably had
pnc or two young fellows trained UNI
der my own eye. to capture alive.
without fear, the largest and most
deadly kinds that the primcval wilder
ness could produce.
Pedro Vargas. u swar,hy-skinncd
STRIPPING Of IL, clad only in shirt and
trousers, with II palm leaf hat upon
his head. barefoot and barc-lcygcd TO
The knee. was the quickest and bravcst
of all my daring scrpcnt-chaScrs.
One morning at sunrise Pedro and |
started OIL for the forest in search Of a
huge boa constructor reported To have
been e e by some hunter on the pre-
vious evening. Before We had pro-
cecdcd far the sounds of gunshOts in
the distance attracted our attention.
We soon anne up with the shooters.
and were delighted to find that they
were the very hunters who had ycstcr-
day encountered the boa we were in
quest of.
Over the forcst-clad hills for some
two miles W with difficulty made our
way, continually slashing Il road with
our cutlas,cs. To where there was u
deep ravinc. II was among the rocks
on the PERCEPTIONS side Of this ravinc
that they had seen the boa on the
evening h, fore. Pedro. meanwhile
left us. and. going down To the dried
up river bed. began to seek him be-
meath the bushes ovcrhanging the
sandy margin. He was very o sue
ccssful.
Santa Madrc," he shouted. ..Quc
grande cabcza,'
On hearing this We all stood still.
an%xiously gazing down at him. won
dcring what il was he had discovered.
A. he uttered the words we saw him
In the act Of ascending n huge bowlder,
oycrshadowed by "A spreading fam
palms spacious leaves. For IA mo-
mcnt he was lost to view.
The palm leaves swayed and rustlcd
violently. and before we had time to
move a step there was Pedro rolling
of the bowlder down to the sand be-
low. with the snake coilcd
with its many folds around him. There
nc lay ON his back holding the great
boa, with onc hand clutchcd about its
throat. There was coil upon coil Of
the monsters length wound around his
neck and arms and body. His legs
only were free, and with these he tried
vigorously To get on his feet: but in
vain, for the weight around his neck
and shoulders, a. well "a the ~pinion-
ing of his arms, completely prevented
any such action. When we reached
him he could speak no more and his
face was fast growing livid. though
otherwise he was conscious cnough:
but the pressure round his throat was
too much for him. The swollen veins
stood out upon his forehead and his
eyes appeared bulging-cvidcntly the
snake was s%trangling him. while he
still kept il clutchcd by the throat. for
though Il boa constructor cannot crush
ones ribs, he can easily squeeze Il
neck quite enough to choke. Now
thcb best way To u~nloosc II coilcd boa
IL To mcn at the tail. 81 for that
! jumped ~ once and found it stoutly
cnlappcd around the stems of the
bushes. ! proceeded Ia unite it. but
as fast ~ ! could get it of from one
place it instantly twisted afrcsh arou nd
another,
As it was clear that this delay might
have serious consequences. at once
prepared for other tactics. knew
that if ] threatened the excited reptile
while Pedro remained perfectly still
and quietly let 90 his hold ON il,
throat, the beast would AT once attack
me by hitsng, but not by winding
around mo, for this last they never
do, except with animals they intend t,
swallow on when held prisoner, "A,
Pedro was now holding this one. Pre-
pairing myself, therefore. for the onsc
Is taking the bags We had with us an,
wrapping them around my hands I,
protect them against lis teeth,
stood ol II little 10y the reptiles hca,
and shouted to Pedro To let 90. whicl
he had till now been afraid to do. Il
pugili,tic attitude, | took my positio.
before the kissing snake, and. Wit
both hands protected 10y the bags, a
with boxing gloves, fcignad II blow 4
him the moment Pedro unloosoncd M
grasp. The onragcd animal, sccin
mo thus mcnacingly moving in froi
of him, gave vent 20 II most tcrrifyin
hiss, and bit toward mo with widcl
gaping jaws. He struck right towal
my face, but fell short of his mark. f
he was too much cntwincd around Il
boy Ia reach out far enough To cat,
me. His folds now began to loos'
ON Pedro, all his rage being direct,
To me.
For several minutes | kept the ang
snake biting NJ me. and as after ca
attack he would unwind another twI
Of his body Pedro, whom ! repeated
\ warned to stay quiet, was q u aim,
entirely free, while | spared Wig,
\ ously with my kissing antagoni
without, of course, ever allowing h
to catch mo.