Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1897-05-08
FABULOUS SNAKE OF CHINA.
Marco POLO. nepor, conesrulas the
Province Of Yunnnn.


Marco rolo'a Report coneernlne the
Province OF Aunnan.
In this country gold dust N found In
great quantities; that Is TO say, In the
rivers and lakes. while In the noun
tains gold is also found In pieces OF
larger size. Gold is indeed SO abund-
ant that they give one saggio Of gold
for only six of the same weight In
small change they use the porcelain
shells, as l mentioned before. These
are not found In the country. however.
but are brought from India. In this
province are found snakes and great
serpents of such vast size as to strike
fear into those who see them and so
hideous that the very account of them
must excite the wonder Of those who
hear 1t. / win tell you how long and
big thew are Won NAV be assured that
some of them are ten PAGES in length;
some are more and some less. And In
bulk they are equal to a great cask,
for the bigger one are about ten palms
in girth. The head is very big. The
mouth is large enough to swallow a
man whole and is garnished with great
pointed teeth. And, in short, they are
so ferce-looking and so hideously ug-
~ thatevery man and beast must stand
in fear and trembling of them. There
are also smaller ones, such as Of eight
PAGES long. and of five, and of one
pace only. The way in which they
are caught is this: You must know
that by day they live underground be-
cause of the great heat and in the
night they go out to feed and devour
every animal they can catch. They go
also to drink at the rivers and lakes
and springs. And their weight is so
great that when they travel In search
of food or drink, as they do by night,
the tail makes a great furrow in the
soil, as If a full ton of liquor had been
dragged along. Now, the huntsmsn
who go after them take them by a GER
tain gin trap which they set in the
track over which the serpent has pass
ed, knowing that the beast will come
back in the same way. They plant a
stake deep in the ground and fix on the
head of this a sharp blade of steel made
like a razor or a lance point and then
they cover the whole with sand so that
the serpent cannot see it. Indeed, the
huntsman plants several such stakes
and blades on the track. On coming
to the spot the beast strikes against
the iron blade with such force that 1t
enters his breast and rives (cuts) him
so that he dies on the spot, and the
crows, on seeing the brute dead, begin
to cav, and then the huntsmen know
that the serpent is dead and come in
search of him. This, then, is the way
these beasts are taken. Those who
take them proceed to extract the gall
from the inside, and this sells at a
great price; for you must know 1t fur
nishes the material for a most precious
medicine. Thus, If a person is bitten
by a mad dog and they give him but
a small pennyweight of this medicine
to drink he is cured in a moment.
Again, If one has any disease of the
skin and applies a small quantity of
this gall he shall speedily be cured.
So you see why it sells at such a high
price. They also sell the flesh of this
serpent, for it is excellent eating and
the people are very fond of it. And
when these serpents are very hungry
sometimes they will seek out the lairs
of lions or bears or other large wild
beasts and devour their cubs, without
the sire or dam being able to prevent
it. Indeed. if they catch the big ones
themselves they devour them, too; they
can make no resistance.