The Savannah morning news., 1901-02-10


kar for the maya. 1 found him among
some cocoanuts on the floor When l
went in he raised his body about two
feet, and Kissed loudly. l tapped him on
the nose with the bamboo, and, remem-
bering the Whippings l had given him in
the box, he dropped and glided in and out
among the cocoanuts. But he was too
clever TO stick his head in my bamboo
moose; he went under Il and over It, but
tap from the bamboo brought him down
again.
AT last, just as he had evaded care
fully planned trap. and was going by, I
impatiently forgot all caution, and pos
sessed of a sudden impulse. darted out
my hand, and grabbed him by the neck.
My hold was so close to his head that
there was no chance of his striking me
while held on. l could feel the pull
ing back of his muscles and gripped him
with much strength.
AS l emerged from the storeroom even
Joe took TO his heels
The problem of how I was to get rid of
his snakeship bothered me considerably
as trailed him toward the box, at arms
length, to prevent his reaching my body.
At the box l pulled the upper side, put
his head a the opening, and, feeling his
muscles set in that direction, released
my hoh and stepped back quickly. He
glided quietly in. l closed the lid and
took big lungful of air, 1t is not a
pleasant thing to capture a cobra with
the bare hand.
Standing behind my chair at tifin Joe
asked me in an awed voice, Master not
afraid OF snake?"
No" / replied scornfully, mo snake
hurt me-" But then, you see, Joe had
Also taken to the jungle and had not seen
my face when l was loaded up with the
beastly thing
Cooke was a man Of much guileless
faith, and once, when l was away,
snake-charmer came along and persuaded
him TO loan him the hamadryas for a
few days; he would break them in and
bring them back. Perhaps he did break
them in-we never knew.
The hamadryas is wonderfully like .
bulldog. He is pusnacious in the extreme
always ready to fight He is the most
terrible snake among all the ophidia; he
is big and strong and quick, and his
venom is as fatal as that of the cobra di
capello. But with all this he seems to
have the same tolerant good nature to-
ward those he feels have a right over
him that the bulldog possesses. The snake
charmer finds him docile. Here is an au-
thentic incident.
had little boy about six years old, who
used to play beneath the bungalow He
often chartered about his playmate, the
snake; but no attention was paid to this.
One day the father saw the boy squatted
on the sand under the bungalow throwing
pebbles and little sticks at huge hama
dryas, which was gliding about. not OF.
fering to hurt the little fellow. But when
the man appeared, the cobra became en-
a i'm ~.
beat hasty retreat. He got his gun, and
shot 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 played with him. He declared there
were two of the snakes there, but If l
remember right they never saw the other
one.
The Baboia russellii is a sluggish beast,
and yet possessed of devilish quickness.
You may step over him, and he will lie
apparently asleep. touch him and he will
strike with the rapidity of lightning, and
the fatalness of a Borgia The danger
from the daboia and his brother in sin.
the KARAT is great because of their
lethargic iniquity. The cobra will get out
of the way if he can; these two will not.
l have often brought my foot down on
the neck of a daboia as he Law i'm the
sun, and watched the ugly souirn1ing
head with its big fangs like a cats
claws.
When was stationed in the Jungle back
of Kyouk Phyou, a friend wrote asking
for a good specimen of the daboia He
wanted him put in a bottle of alcohol
WITHOUT being smashed up any. In a short
time secured a snake from the roof of
the henhouse, and carried him into my
verandah. l got large pickle bottle
and tried to shove him into the neck of
it with pair of short fire tongs. The
snake was intensely sluggish, and
grew little careless Presently the tongs
slipped from his neck, and as l reached
to catch him again he struck.
His action was quick that I had no
time to draw back the sixteenth of an
inch; but / think his body must have
come in contact with the tongs as he'd
them out, for somehow he just failed to
get home. l fancy that the nasal plates
of his armored head struck my thumb.
=.
On one occasion the sister of one of
our party spent a few days on the Bor-
ongos. She slept in a small bungalow be-
side ours The escond morning, Just after
daylight, we were startled by piercing
screams from the little bungalow. and
rushed out in time to see her come head
long from her quarters, in sleeping gar
ments only. 1t was the usual thing-a
snake.
When she first opened her eyes, she dis
covered a huge reptile, six feet long, cooled
on top Of the mosquito curtain just over
her face. The warmth of her breath had