The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-01-17

the natives, the snake looked to be
hundred or more feet in length and
thicker through than large barrel
When the boat was still some dis
lance from the sloping beach the ser,
pent overlook it and, selling its frail
stern in it's foam dripping jaws, raised
it clear of the water and sent its four
screaming occupants ffoundering in the
bay. The natives, as they struck the
water, heard the cracking of the bark
as the sides of their canoe was ground
to pieces in those terrible jaws.
'"The men were all good swimmers,
and raced through the bay as though
water was their natural element, but
the awful presence behind them steadi-
ly lessened the slight lead the fugitives
had and in a moment scream of agony
was heard as the serpent claimed a
victim. The native who had told the
story to our party was in the lead at
the time, and his feet were just begin
ming to touch the stopping, sandy shelf.
He instinctively turned and saw
sight that he will never forget. The
serpent IS head reared eight or ten feet
above the water, on an arching neck
and struggling in his jaws was one of
the unfortunate boatmen The cruel
teeth had fastened in his flesh and blood
in solid streams dripped from the
snake s jaws. Even as the first native
looked, the victim seemed to double up,
| his head met his feet and his whole
body disappeared in the cavernous
| mouth of the monster, drawn inward
f,,1
pent IS throat.
"The monster, after it's disgusting
| meal, shook itself violently, remained
motionless for moment, as though it's
| appetite was satisfied, and then, con-
Guiding that it was still hungry, dart
ed in after another victim. But the
brief pause the monster made had given
the three survivors the bare time to
gain the shadows and run up the beach.
The snake paused when it encountered
| the bottom emitted a bull-like below
from its blood-dripping jaws, turned in
a sweeping circle and sped out to sea.
That was the substance of the story
| the native told, and the motions he
went through were descriptive of the
| movements of the serpent and the strug-
giles of the victim. The women who
had made the display of grief were the
wife, mother and sister of the dead
man.
"Well, the whole village went down
| to the beach and followed the sandy
stretch for a mile or more in the direc-
| tion of the channel, vainly scanning
the waters for glimpse of the SER
pent. We three white men, each with
an improved elephant bore rifle in the
| hollow of his arm, led the procession,
| and for a time we were greatly disap-
! pointed at getting no glimpse of the
serpent.
Finally one of the natives called
our attention to the confmotion in the
| water about third of a mile from
shore, and snatching Lassalle's strong
| glasses from his hand I trained them
on the spot The bay was very calm.
but at the spot where my gaze rested
the waters were tossing and tumbling
about as though over volcano.
There's something there!' | cried, and
| hardly had the words left my mouth
when the something rose above the sur
| face and the water eddied and boiled
| like a maelstrom. The something was
the head of an enormous serpent, and
as / passed the glasses back to Las
sale and raised my gun / said with a
catch at my breath, 'The niger d.dn I
exaggerate The serpent was very
plain, even to the naked eye. and all
the natives set up weird cries. and
running back and forth on the beach
| waved their fists at the monster, cursing
it in their strange jargon, and some
few even hurled iavelins at it in their
impotent fury.
E"The snake must haye heard the
noise, for it started in our direction
and then to our unspeakable surprise
lowered its head and swan closer to
shore, evidently intending to attack us
It came to within several hundred yards
of where we stood, coil after coil of
its great length rising and falling on
the water, looking for all the world
like some tabled dragon of antiquity
It's course was stopped, however. at the
shadows, and it contented itself with
flashing about in the water, and bel
lowing furiously like great bull.
| Gentlemen, / am not drawing on
my imagination one iota when [ tell
you that the head of that animal, fish
or reptile, call it what you will, was as
big as a hogshead, just as the natives
had described the thing to us. Once
or twice it opened its mouth and we
saw four great prong like teeth and a
smaller row of grinders which con
WINGED us that the thing masticated its
food. although his mouth was large
enough to easily swallow a man.
noticed only one thing that the native