New-York tribune., 1901-03-10
<\lkr STORIES FROM BRAZIL.
-uE ou1iGlNG DEALER AND THE FROZEN
CARGO.


CARGO.
Flo Janeiro correspondence Of The chicago
Rec ~.
Psvcholos.caIly snake stories are of only two
kinds true and untrue Proportloha'eIE tnSS
ar, about one To- a thousand. and theoretlcatiy
they all generally supposed To TSce'pe t,-e
s,.rntIance Of fact. This is brazilian shaAe
story and Il true one. but before gong tuftneE
il might br we'll to remember that TINS country
has:
The bics, st river in the world.
Tho biggest coffee plantations IN the WorId.
Th,. biggt st ban.hoCs in the WorId
The biggest palms in the world
The biggest uduSancSe mines IN the WorId-
Th.. rarlSt ore hids in the world
The biggest iron mountain in the World
The largest rubber trees in the world
Not lon, aao a hunter on the san Francisco
River that mighty stream running across the
SIate of Bahia and draining COyas shot
monster boa constructor which measured actual
measurement feet long. COlonel Bryan, the
American Minister in Rio. has a decoration IN
his residence. the skin of one OF these reptlies
from the same river. which measures ~ ieet
from tip 70 tip. can be sworn TO by scores OF
American naval officers and American NiSltorS
He also has a section OF the skin of a snake
which as it lived was trile over - feet long
I;ut imagine the king of all. probably the lars-
est of its kind ever seen, which could stand on
its head and brush its tail third OF the way up
the Washington Monument. Ii could hang by
its taII from the Brooklyn Bridge and touch the
deck of "a passing steamer. Let loosr IN the
streets of New-Y0rk it would he taken for sec
tion of th- EroatiUav cahlr-fOur feet through
AT the thickcSt point. The tidbit of this mon
ster for an infrequent feast is an OK. swallowed
whole and taken through the jaws by q Kind
provision of nature which permits them TO be
unlocked at the base during the operation. Ii IS
a six months feast. This monster was caught IN
it's sluggish moments after the huge meal, and
dispatched 10y q bullet from rifle.
This is another true story. lt is the custom
for mates and SCaurn on cargo boats bound Tor
the United States which touch at PernambucO
To buy parrots. Iovebirds. monkeys. etc, by
the dozen 70 take home for sale. They pay, for
instance. 81 for very good parrot to be
sure but considerably tanned before reaching
New York and usually possessing 4 wild vO-
cabulary. Provided the bird weathers the eli
mate it is sold to fancier, regular dealers who
watch for these. ships. for from 81 to $40 The
mate of one If these boats once drove bargain
with a PernamhucO snake dealer for a half
dozen reptiles of various sizes. He had them
in a cage deck. and charged a sailor with
the duty Of washing il out with water every
evening. All went Well long the weather
mild but ON the night before the CSult
Stream crossed about thirty hours from
port, the sailor left lot of water in the cage
A blizzard struck the ship and the snakes were
forgotten while all ha nds busy with the
storm. When the mate thought of his chattels
and went to investigate their condition all were
frozen stiff The dealer came on board the next
day. prOfeSSed great disappointment that he
had lost his intended purchase, but offered to
take the snakes away kindness to the mate
He gathered them in his arms like firewOOd
and carried them home. a rival dealer told the
officer afterward that good warm water had
resuscitated their snakeships and that they had
been sold to various museums unaffected BY tbs
freezing.