The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-12-17

WSUAIIy
It's huge size and powerful constructing qualities
the maja is In no sense match for the other, for
the iguana is terrible fighter When When a aroused.
and obs,inaoy unegualled by any other den'hen
Of the Cuban Jungle.
The writer once ran across an igusna in the
Cauto forests which was at the time ofinterupton,
busy engaged In tearing the lie out oil ralhcI
lafge.sizcd maia, The head Of the snake hung
limp and loose, having been bitten nearly through
from behind the neck but its folds still cncircled
its four footed adversary. and these the latter
With It's pointed Claws, while al the same time il
stripped and mutilated the body Of the serpent
with it's sharp teeth The animal paused and
with its purple eyes. then evidently considering
me 10 be friend and not likely to modest its good
finished the iSb, shifted the air once or twice
In apparent disda Of other ma,us, arose, crawlcd
away into the hole Of a large ebony tree and dis
The maia Is the largest serpent found on the
Island Of Cuba, Cpd in fact throughout the West
though Specimens UP to twenty four feet In length
and from 10 TO 30 inches N circumference are re
Ssn ! belongs to he boa
i is found throughout ths /. land in the Isle Of
Pines adjoining, in the ,uplands as well a. tho
Of the sNsnps, where II attnins its greatest size
The colors and shades Of the serpent change-or
tho country II inhabits In the swamps and dark
iqrc9tS away from the sun and light, II IL of a
DIONn nue., dark, heHNy ana muddy IN
shade, and its diamond markings remind ono
very strongly of the distinctive ornaments on the
back Of the Iatucsnake In the uplGnds and prairie
lands II is brighter and clearer, and among the
mountains rocks and mineral regions " takes
rich, chocolate brown tint. thndng TO u muddy
cream under the belly The maia is at constant
warfare with every other swamp creature, tho
iguana. for some reason. being the special object
o. It, t ahrG'iig Al bG9ts Ismarked he latter
The cunning OF The snake H. very marked In somc
Instances A native tells a curious incident Of
rSM ana ,t eau and maia which hc'rcl In lhe
Ing under the tree and the calf getting its din
ner from one teat when an interested ma "a from
the branches aboyc dc.cended Me trunk and
nnWindif. one coil reached forward and helped
Itself frow nnOthcr teat The COW and cali wrro
In nowise disturbed and seemed rcffcctly contencd
win The Intrulpu, and neither uf them made
any effort whatever 10 tchulc the snakes IA
miilG1ty or put an end to the proceeding
~ The spring our party heard great nose AFRAID
loud alouiings and excl ed gatherings and riding
Up 70 we spot discovered ,groupof native tanr'
ing about under the trees like parcel Of Wild In.
diqnS a large ma,a, headless but yet full Of
mischlevoua vitality lay ,writhlng and tllrashinF
on the ground Everybody gave 1t plenty Of
room for notwithstanding that its head had been
clipped clean oil with n maChettr, nevertheless
rs death agony was 20 violent tha, blow from
tue lai would no doubt have smash ed ribs or bruK-
en- legs OF perhaps have killed any mortal 50 M.
fortunate as 10 be within reach 1T the time
in; body II another majn almost as ia!gr Hs' tie
Other with one fold coiled about a fat jutia that
Mas as ilat as II steam roller had passed over IT,
Inc natives nal no guns, but were throwing
stones, sticks and other things at the graceful
body swinging back and forth like pendulum
when suddenly the snake looscned its hold on The
Juita dropped 70 the ground, and rHpidly AZ
preached Its dying mate. twas now easily billed
snI .ns n%ySS ss' qp Ersai hog, ~. male
female little less than /. feet, The ju;ia was
s 6wn,a no bs Emlp IL from, ss were rrcad
ance II resembled a hug. rolled bologna s.nisagr
There Wa not whole bone left in the animals
body Indeed nron inyc-liseh2n he bones
particles, 80 small and ine jlur al obstruction
to ,ma5,icntlon wa entirely overcome
TO be an inhabtant 81 Cuba The uucstIon las
been settled beyond all doubt, however, hv the
recent killing Of a rair II >crrcnts near Sasup.
dc Ianhmo which the natives called ma.ag but
which the writer saw at glance To bc the true
anaconda Of Panama and South America In
chccScrboatd distinctions Of the species tho hulv
was more slender than that Of the ma! the ava
ana 'ail Were different, and laid HiaC by side Al
most any novice though only slightly vcrscl
In serpent lore, could easily have t"l! tho one
from the other 1t will be interesting TO note
Nmcrcons have control i he island DIV Heh ' III
be revealed from time 10 tine thai has hcf''"
natural history Of the world
There are SIX o,hct succes Of Snn kcs in Cula.
the most notable neNttu The ns!a and the anaconda
with partially, iattehtd head r Ii has Sanr:ss,,
poisonous AZ q matter Of fact Tie Tuba has a
certain degree OF venom at mating times, INT II
all other seas.ns 1t Is T5.,fccty harmless cAccit
son that II Is CONS dctur, a quality absent ia
poisonous snakcs, the .uha should be classrj
as nOn.venOmous The natives 10 not fear IT,
and a. 1t reaches only moderate size siX OF eight
feet, the snake IL not considered Of much curfc
qurnce BY those who often encounter II The
other indigenous SNAKES are small green thirCF
grass and bead snal :cS but they are tuU timing
To he noticed separately
m lie.
other fact should he considered anil thrr is iEni
the three islands Of Cuba, Porto lticu end Hnvti
contain neither poisonous insects nor N,uumuus
in the West Indies, have the deadly icrdc lNrcr,
a serpent fully as fetal rs the cuhra and raitIr'
Tr!nidad rarhadocs and Nn,eun, have move
or less poisonous creatures but tic three islands
named aFS Tree rom such danger though Why
The most common dcniIens Of the sWamgs
In Cuba are the lizards Nd chamcieons Of Which
Among them Is the spny lizard harmless.
beautiful creature. with spinrs oil over lis back
ann lhrrr hfc GnHn,'cons without number Lat
scramble from limb to limb Il IS Interesting 10
note how rapidly the chameleon adep,S Itself 10
changes of surroundings. on an ebony log il
will turn an insy hlHCl en- white hnckcruIiud
il becomes Of pale gIrayish lint ON red cedar Is
foliage u Is green bronze sea rlet or russcl What,
ever the hue # the leaves may be
co nm" r@nT' or ,imo,nF crab IL especially
-
crabs living on land in Cuba than there arc in
The nrishboring waters Far inland ono meets
these creatures in great drovcs, and NJ ,lmos tho
country for many miles is alive with them. mr.
lirularlv AZ tim" when they ore In thn act If
migrating from one locality IN another During
the recent starvation period in Cuba under span,
lSh nliSrulr th!s" lUnd CrustaccanS formed nee
esSary article 81 food, and saved many a poor
native and his fcnily from starvation
or frn,S and t1GdS there are endless varieties
som" 81 them almost ~ small as PIN points while
others again nrc a. large 0a soup plates There
is Il little follow having III" tint 81 the foliage
among which II lives, which, up0n h'inr alarmed
lctpS at some p,rP. molecular Object ~ n tree, a
stick or branch, and then COMPLETES the rsrrnt
bG short and rapid jumps This IL thr Ecnuin"
toes az" tiny such'rl'c discs which enable HIM
to walk bottom sid IN on houlhs or othrr r..
vcrsrl objects I'll. :" frog, will lean al sarlinos
reaching . height Of four or five feet IN a r.urlr
jump Indeed so thick are thpv in some local
ties that they will often leap NJ III" nearest ohrr
horses legs Tor cNam9', and never CrI-r hon
ping until they have climbed 10 the saddle and
pniSibl" upon the shoulders uf the rider
The crnaking # III" tOnds md frogs AZ night
from tho trees and swamps l. almost drafcninr-
that is II on" happens 20 b" in close proximity
20 them, This noise ~ something like shri"kilr
horns, metallic and piercing, aud il cchord and
rrrchoed back and forth through the nirh, in
thousand reverb TatiOuI
There are all sorts Of turtles in Cuba mud
turtles, gophrrs, trrrapins, smoothbnrks and
n la. l.a-