The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1901-11-30
VOL. Il. NO. 48
,5Fldiall

W w Capt. Roberts reported that
about forty-three miles
southwest from Ceylon his
vessel had steamed for two hours through
masses Of snakes, probably most persons
suspected the skipper of having drawn a
very long bow. But the captain had told
only the simple trutns and now that
owing to her new possessions more and
mere ships will ply the waters Of the
Indian and Chinese seas, the world will
learn many new and startling things
about feature Of animal life that
hitherto has been known practically to
criy a few. s ~ ~
The first scientific. and official report
that reached the United States. of5the ex-
1Etence of great sea snakes in numbers
so vast as to challenge credulity was
made a little less than two years ago by
DR., George +. Becker of the United
States geological survey, who saw = a
wonderful spectacle while passing
through the sea of Jolo, on his way to
make geological and meteorological inves-
legations for the United States govern
nient. Between Cebu and JoIo the ship
passed through sea snakes for 100 miles,
DR.. Becker computes that there We're at
least 5000 Of them to each square mile
ard that If the school" of serpents
was as broad as it was long there must
have been 50,0O0O0O of them In this
case, as in the case of the Osingwold,
the sea, literally and exactly speaking.
was alive with them. Wherever the eye
might look snakes were swimming with
graceful convolutions, with heads and
long thin necks thrust far out Of the
water In true sea-serpent style. The
Cs-ngwold's master computes that the
area covered by the snakes that he saw
was fully fourteen miles long and forty
four miles wide. AS in the case of the
creatures seen by DR.. Becker, they
seemed entirely fearless and barely swan
out of the track of the ship in time to
escape death from the bow or the screw.
In fact the Osingwold killed many Of
them. - .~Ia ~
This utter fcarlessness Is q distirg,,sh-
ing characteristic of the sea snakes, and
1t adds not little to the danger that is to
be apprehended from Them for it often
leads them to attack fishermen or swim
mers and even to climb up the anchor
chains and through the hawserholes of
vessels and to attack the crews And as
the bite Of every one of the fifty known
varieties is absolutely fatal, there is no
little fear felt of them in the great ocean
spaces that are Inhabited BY them
IL IS usual thing, when they are seen
at all, to see them in huge numbers, be-
cause they are gregarious and swim and
hunt in great schools. When there is a
particularly tempting form of food ANY,.
where they appear to be able to discover
the fact at once, and they will surround
their prey and feed until nothing is left.
BEING rapacious, 1t happens periodically
that they are forced to leave a worm out
hunting ground and seek food elsewhere,
and IN such circumstances it is that they
are seen occasionally by ships. ri I
There are fifty known varieties of these
dreaded creatures. all classified under the
general title Of 1hanatophidia None of
them Is able TO live anywhere except in
ocean water. Even in brackish rivers
and estuaries they die after few days,
and when cast ashore they succumb as
surely as does a whale. Every variety
and subyariety is as poisonous as the
cobra or the bushmaster of Africa. In
deed. with the exception Of these two land
serpents, there is no snake on dry land
that kills so swiftly and as terribly as
90 the sea snakes. go. = v. n +
Owing to their fatal weapons and their
ease and celebrity Of swimming there are
practically no enemies that DESTROY
enough of them to make any impression
on their numbers. The great East Indian
sea eagle hunts them to some extent, but,
as the bird knows the danger that threat
ems from its quarry, the hunting is done
deliberately and with so much caution
that an eagle does not kill many snakes
IN a day. He hovers over the swimming
serpents until he gets a chance to seize
one with his talons just behind the head
Then he hacks like lightning with his
bill, aiming to cut off the venomOus Jaws.
II he fails he drops the snake and flies
upward as swiftly as possible. Sharks
attack the snakes also. It is supposed
that the thick, rough, filelike skin of this
ash Ia an armor against poison. Man is
an inveterate enemy to the serpents, but
he does not hunt them on purpose, While
many are killed by the fishermen each
year. there is no systematic fight against
the wicked things, and, as they are very
productive. their numbers increase an
nualfy.
They are as beautiful as they are dead
~. and Coieridge made no misuse Of
poetic license when he made his ancient
mariner say:
Beyond the shadow of the ship Sx.4
(, watched the water snakes
They moved in tracks OF shining white,
e. And when they reared the elfish light
e, Feb on In hoary flakes.
Y Within the shadow OF the shin !. g.
III I watched their rich attire: u.
Blue, glossy green and velvet black
(! They coiled and swan. and every track
Was q fash OF golden hre.
No snake on land, except the coral.
grass and carpet snakes, is clad so beau
tifnlly. as are almost all the Thanato-
phtdta Banded, striped, specified.
hiotched. green. olive, yellow, blue and
black, they seem the most beautiful
things that the eye can hope to see as one