The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-10-30
SNAKES FOR PARIS EXPOSITION
A Snake Charmer's Cargo From the
Amazon.

A Snake Charmer's Cargo From the
Amazon.
The Portuguese bark that in April
left Para, the big rubber port of Bra
zil. with a cargo consisting entirely OF
snakes. has landed them safely in En-
rope. The collection was gathered
| along the Amazon river, is valued at
$4,000. and the purpose is to exhibit
the whole lot at the Paris exposition
next year. The snakes are owned by
| some French snake charmers, and 1t
| took several years to get them togeth-
| err They include boa constructors of
| the largest size.
| The Amazon region is an ideal place
for snake hunting for the reptiles are
very abundant. A great deal of work
is required, however, to make repre-
sentative collection of this genus of the
Amazon fauna, for different species Of
ten live far apart, and great care is
necessary to secure the finest epeci-
mems without injury, either alive or
for museum purposes. Some of the
largest snakes are found very near the
Atlantic. In the wet season serpents
are very common in the neighborhood
of Para When the famous naturalist,
Bates, made his visit to the Amazon
lamp lighter wope him up early one
morning in Para to show him a boa
constructor he had just killed in the
street not far from Bates door, He
had cut the reptile nearly in two with
a large knife as it was making it's
way down the sandy street. Native
hunters sometimes capture boa con-
vi oil in 1o Do
A little later Bates was near coming
into collision with a boa constructor.
He had just entered little thicket to
capture an insect when he heard a
rushing noise and thought squall was
coming. 1t proved however, to be one
of these enormous snakes coming down
a slope and making the dry twigs
crack with it's weight as it moved over
them. Bates said he knew there was
no danger, and so he kept his ground.
When the reptile saw him it suddenly
turned and glided at a faster rate
down the path. Boyd wished to note
it's size and coloring, and so set out at
ter it, but the reptile moved so fast he
was unable to get near enough for his
purpose. There was little of the SER
pentine motion. The rapidly moving
and shining body looked like stream
of brown liquid flowing over the thick
bed of allen leaves rather than like
serpent of varied colors.
In the wilderness, where the Bra
zilians plant cacao the collecting of
the fruit is often dangerous from the
number of poisonous snakes that fire.
ouent these places The anaconda is
by far the most dangerous Of ANA zon
reptiles. 1t does not hesitate some
times to attack human beings, and it
often haunts the neighborhood of the
settlements in order to get ducks and
fowls, of which it is very fond. 1t
lives in the water a great deal Of the
time. A naturalist wrote a while ago
of one of these snakes that had been
despoiling the hencoops along the riv-
er. Two parties of young men started
in canoes to find the creature. They
searched all the little inlets on both
sides of the Amazon, and at last dis
covered the object of their search sun
ming itself on a log at the mouth of
muddy stream. They killed 1t with
harpoons 1t was not very large