Evening star., 1898-12-02

A SNAKE THAT CROWS.
Curious Reptile That Has Been Seen
and Heard in Samoa.

trCm Forest ana Stresm.
The gu estion of snakes In tropical coun-
| try is one of much interest TO a woman. L
forces itself on the attention just soon
as one discovers how Close the jungle or
bush is to the ordinary places of residence.
| In Samoa this distance is but step. Along
| the beach is narrow strip of cocoanut
grove, with bread fruit filling the spaces in
| between the loftier trees. But just behind
| the shore orchards the bush is as tangled
and trackless as it would be If human habi-
| tations were miles away instead of yards.
From cultivated ground you plunge instant
ly into the soggy shade of forest timber,
| lacing boughs blocking out the rays OF the
sun and steadily dripping the waters stored
| from frequent and copious rains In every
| crotch of limb ami branch grow orchids
and clusters of the birds nest fern. Every
vista between the trunks is tangled with
swayng lianas, which in the obscure lights
might be taken for almost any fearsome
| thing. Under foot is thick mat of coarse
grass and aromatic ginger, and many tall
succalent herbs. which shut out from sight
| the real surface Of the saturated, sponey
| soil Such scenery may be all very well
| for an artist hunting after color effects and
atmosphere. but it has too much the look of
| good snake country to make one at all COM
| Portable when making a trip through such
| brush. 1t comes as a positive relief to learn
| that there are no venOmous snakes in Sa-
moa, always excepting the snake which
| crows
In proof of the existence of this reptile
there NAV be offered the testimony of wit
nesses, eye witnesses, ear witnesses. Any
| quantity of Samoaps, and white people as
well, will give you detailed accounts Of
| how they heard the snake in the dense re-
cesses of the bush. They tell how their
ears caught the sound of stealthy move
ments n the tree tops overhead. and how
the faint sound stopped when they halted
to listen closer or how it began as soon as
tlax- mad fhn Of HOY thpSt- in
visible pursuer was betrayed through the
miles of his fellow travelling by the rustlins
leaves and tWigS in the forest canopy. In
| evitably the narrator closes his account by
description of his escape: he either over
| took some other wanderer in the bush and
found security in numbers, or else he made
particularly good time hOmeward, or he
remembered a charm which had much DOW
er. When for any of these reasons the
snake found he was to lose his victim he
altered his silent tactics. He could be heard
thrashing the trees and Growing like any
rooster, only many times as loud, and as he
noisily sought some other part of the forest
the growing was frequently repeated, until
a last it vanished in the distance. When
asked more particularly to his Growing,
the SamoGnS say .hat Ii is exactly like the
growing of roosters. There is IN equal host
of eye Witnesses, men who have seen crow
ing snakes. They never vary from one an
other in their descriptions of what they
have seen. Except for one spot of special
conditions it is never seen on the ground.
but always en- the tops of the highest trees,
either stretched out along a branch or
gliding frCm tree to tree with remarkable
rapidity. 1t is long and slender-rarely is
one spoken of as under two arm spans or
twelve feet. seldom is one described as en-
ceeding twice that measurement. Its col
or is spoken of as uniform, a steel blue or
slate, and free from spots or other mark
ings. When at rest it is difficult to distin-
guish II from the branch on which il may
be stretched out; when in motion 1t goes
far too fast for any detail to be observed.
White people are more chary about men
tioning this remarkable reptile Yet there
are many reliable people who say that they
have either heard or have seen It.
This Is about as much as can be said.
The ear witnesses have heard the Growing,
the eye witnesses have seen an arb0raal
serpent of large size. The proof VIII not
be complete until some one shall be both
eye witness and ear witness. shall see the
snake in the very act of a growing which
shall reach his ears. Until that combira-
ton is made there will always be those
who are in doubt to the growing snakes
of Upola, but it is safe to. say that, proof
or no proof the Samoans will always be-
lieve in the animal a peril of the jungle.