Evening star., 1901-02-09

dryas, which was gliding about, not offer
ing to hurt the little feltow But when the
and attacked him., causing him to beat
the king cobra dead.
1t seemed that the hamadryas had been
nesting in one of the Numerous rat holes
under the bungalow, and the boy had often
pIt yed with him. He declared there were
two of the snakes there, but if 1 remember
right they never saw ting other one.
The daboia russellii isi a sluggish beast.
and yet possessed of a'aevilish quickness-
You may step over him, and he VIII lie
apparently asleep btoucff him and he Will
strike with the rapidityS of lightning, and
the fatalness of Borgia. The danger from
the daboia and his brother in sin, the
KARAT, is great, becausehof their 1ethargic
iniquity. The cobra will get out of the way
if he can: these two will not. have often
brought my foot down on the neck of a
daboia as he lay in the sun, and watched
the ugly, squirming head with its big fangs
like cats claws.
When I was stationed in the jungle back
of Kyouk Phyou, friend wrote asking for
good specimen of the daboa. He wanted
him put in a bottle of alcohol without be-
ing smashed up any. In a short time l Sc
cured a snake from the roof of the hen
house and carried him into my veranda
I got q large pickle bottle and tried to
shove him into the neck of it with pair
of short fire tongs. The snake was IN
tensely sluggish, and 1 grew little care
less Presently the tongs slipped from ms
neck, and as 1 reached to catch him again
he struck.
His action was so quick that l had no
time to draw back the sixteenth of an inch,
but l think his body must have come IN
contact with the tongs as i held them out,
for somehow he just failed to get home
l fancy that the nasal plates of his arm
ored head touched my thumb.
On one occasion the sister of one of our
party spent few days on the Borongos.
She slept in small bungalow beside ours.
The second morning, just after daylight,
we were startled by piercing screams from
the little bungalow, and rushed out In time
to see her come headlong from her quar-
ters. in sleeping garments only. 1t was the
usual thing-a snake.
When she first opened her eyes she dis
covered a huge reptile six feet long co1led
on top of the mosquito curtain just over
her face. The warmth of her breath had
evidently attracted him to that spot. He
was promptly killed.
The little tales that 1 have told here of
snakes ways are absolutely true. There
are others in connection with the natives,
more horrible, dealing with the death of the
poor creatures from snake bite.
Emir Allys father was killed on the
Borongo by huge python-crushed to
death: and others of the natives were killed
also. Yearly in India matter of 10000
die Of snake bite. I never knew but one
man to recover-and his recovery was only
partial, I fancy.
DR.. Vincent Richards. who was a great
authority on poisonous snakes in Calcutta,
was showing a cobra to friend. He was
holding the snake by the neck with his
right hand and pointing at the fangs with
the left, when the reptile suddenly struck
him on the end of the finger. He had all
the appliances at hand, and took prompt
action. He recovered and I saw him few
weeks afterward. But he died in about
year, and friends assured me that he never
fully worked off the poison.
Science stops when confronted with the
virus Of the cobra-it can do nothing. Per-
manganate of potassium, ammonia, alcohol
and the other vain things which have been
tried are all futile. There is no hope once
the poison enters the blood and this it does
with frightful rapidity. Even the mon
must depend solely upon his agility. Quick
as the cobra is. the little creature who flies
at his head SO fearlessly, Is quicker and
crushes his skull with strong, sharp teeth.
But let those terrible fangs induct the Bor-
gian fluid into the blood of the mongoose
and he, too, must pay the penalty of his
temerity.
And the evil does not stop with the death
of the victim, for the poisoned blood is
quite as virulent, If Injected, as the original
death fluid. 1t is true that the immediate
amputation of toe or finger may prevent
the induction of the virus into the vascular
system. but the action must take place at
once. The snake uses this awful weapon to
capture his food victinn-the poison par
alyZes the quarry-and the snake swallows
1t at his leisure The poison has no effect
upon the reptile, either taken into the stom-
ach or injected into its blood by another
snake. The poisonous snakes do not kill
innocuous serpent dies quickly when struck
by poisonous one.