The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1894-10-17
GREAT SNAKES.
In Java They Grow 100 Feet Long, but
the Longest Killed Was Only "a.

For the last 100 years there have been
traditions of huge snakes in the interior
of Java 100 feet long and as big around
as hogshead, and our native hunters
report these from time to time Fifty
years ago man named TAFT, a Scots
man, started with party of natives to
hunt up the pythons. He never re-
turned, and was supposed to have been
killed by some wild animal. He must
have been. giant, as have seen one of
his guns, Weighing thirty pounds, and
carrying two-ounce balls.
About year ago a captain in the
English army named Coles landed here,
accompanied by party of Sikh SOL
diers. He was soon joined by Lieut.
Ayres of the British navy, and it was
announced that they were after the big
snakes. Capt. Coles was a remarkable
shot, and at 400 yards would knock
over parrot every time.
Their course was up the DoWan, a
stream running clear for fifty miles and
then spreading over swamp for one
hundred miles, almost TO the south
coast, and alive with man-eating croco-
diles. They had with them several
donkeys, and one night, encamped on
the river bank, one of these animals
gave tremendous squeal, and the En-
gllshmen, looking out, saw huge
gray mass sliding over the ground and
gave the alarm. Two crocodiles had
come ashore and seized a donkey. Both
were shot; they were hideous reptiles,
thirty feet long, with jaws capable of
cutting man in two. Next morning
they went to work and killed thirteen,
one thirty-six feet long.
In few days they reached the heart
of this submerged region. Snakes
thirty-tive feet long were shot, but the
giants kept out of sight. On land the
and deer make well-deined paths from
one watercourse to the other, and along
these the pythons watch for game.
One morning a native hunter came
in and reported big snake near. Two
hundred yards away the Englishmen
saw swinging between the trees SER
pent almost as big in the middle as a
barrel. Its backbone was broken by a
shot, and after much trouble it was
taken in and skinned. 1t was forty-one
feet long. Such a snake would crush a
man in five seconds.
They had now reached the end of
their journey; the river ended in mass
of vegetation so dense as to make fur
ther progress impossible, so camp was
made on the river bank and next day
the guides brought in the head and a
few feet of the trunk of a serpent that
had evidently been eaten by crocodiles.
The head was nearly three feet long
and indicated an enormous length. It
weighed sixty pounds and was a hideous
object. 1t had no doubt been caught
in the water and bitten to death.
Early one morning an alarm was
given by one of the Sikh soldiers He
pointed to something glistening in the
water half mile away. Through the
glass it was seen to be a snake swim
ming. The raft was at once manned
by the two Englishmen and their gun
bearers. Seen above the water the rep
tiles head was as large as barrel and
shone like bright copper. 1t was evil
IDENTITY making for fiat, sandy place
near shore, and the hunters waited.
Part of the body was now exposed, and
the men were amazed. 1t was at least
three feet thick, and as the long coils
glided over the sand it seemed to get
bigger.
"Now, men, break its back"
Four shots were fired and three went
through the body of the snake. A hiss
like a steam escape and the head arose
twenty feet in the air, while the tail beat
the water like a fail. Suddenly it
turned and the next moment a tre-
mendous blow smashed the raft. All
got into the water and made for shore
but one Sikh. He stopped to secure his
rifle, and again the tail descended and
ne was struck fairly, his back and ribs
being smashed into fragments. He
never made a sound. Another shot
back of the head and the monster
dropped. 1t took six hours to get the
body on land, and it's length was ninety
four feet. The skin was treated with
palm ashes by the natives, an excellent
preservative. There is no record of
such snake ever being killed before.
Fever now attacked the party, and it
took them three weeks to get home.
They had been out three months
Philadelphia Times.