CAPTURING A GREAT SERPENT

It happened one night that, owing to some accidental disarrangement of his harness, one of the horses became unmanageable just in front of the spot where these cages were placed. He reared up again and again, and in the intervals kicked viciously and plunged about furiously, threatening every moment to break the reins by which the driver contrived still to hold him. As the people became terrified, many jumped from their seats and rushed for the place of exit. This confusion increased the efforts of the struggling beast. He reared up madly, and fell backward against the cages, knocking them over, as well as injuring several of the crowd in doing so. Instantly the cry was raised, " The snakes are out! " Needless to say, this alarm turned the whole audience into a struggling mob. The screaming of the women and the shouting of the men were so great that the officials and managers failed to make themselves heard or heeded, and in the midst of the uproar the largest of the great serpents, the fastenings of whose cage had become undone, glided off through the terror-stricken crowd and quickly disappeared beneath the canvas of the tent into the darkness beyond.
It was not until the audience had left that the circus people found out their loss. They made a diligent investigation of the vicinity, but failed to find the snake. Nor did a renewed search the next day yield any better result.

Months after the circus had gone and the people had ceased to talk of the episode, I happened to be hunting in the mountains some twenty miles from the town where the occurrence took place.

The rainy season not being as yet quite over, I generally slept at night in one of a collection of palm-leaf huts pleasantly situated on the sloping hillside, surrounded by small but flourishing plantations of maize and bananas stretching down from the houses to the borders of a pretty lake of several acres in extent. All around these plantations and the lake the trees of the great tropical forest stood up in an encircling wall of solemn and gloomy grandeur.

Within the preceding month some predatory animal had appeared in the neighborhood and frequently carried off pigs and goats. What the thief was, none could tell, so the mystery of these losses caused several of the men to sit up at night and watch for his approach.

The moon was at its full and every leaf plainly visible, but for the first and second nights of the vigil nothing appeared, and they began to think that, after all, maybe the animals had merely fallen into the lake and been drowned, or perhaps wandered off into the forest. On the third night, however, with the full moon shining brightly overhead, as the watchers were sitting upon an isolated rock looking out over the silvery waters, the sudden squealing of a pig, followed by the barking of the dogs in the in-closure by the houses, caused them to reach for their guns and quickly run up the hill. Hurriedly they entered the corral, and there, close in a corner where a tall banana-tree waved its broad green leaves in the moonbeams, was a huge serpent securely wrapped around a good-sized pig and slowly squeezing its life out. An enormous reptile he was, without doubt, and how long - who could tell? At any rate, the pig was almost concealed in his folds, and yet a great part of his length was still lying disengaged upon the ground. When the men drew closer he did not offer to move, but only seemed to tighten himself more securely on his victim, on which his great gaping jaws were fixed with teeth embedded in its neck close behind the ears. The excited men stood over him a moment in consultation, and quickly decided that as he appeared to be so occupied with his prey there would probably be little risk in taking him alive. Accordingly, one seized him around the throat with both hands, while the others caught him by the body, incautiously leaving the tail free. Feeling himself thus attacked, he at once unloosed himself from the pig and whisked himself about so furiously that two of the men .were thrown to the ground. But still they held on, and, getting a better grip on him, were preparing to carry him off out of the corral when, with another swish, he lashed the hinder part of his body around the banana-tree.

The women and children were now crowding on the fence, the dogs were barking furiously at a safe distance, and altogether the confusion was indescribable, every one giving directions which nobody could take.

But the great snake, without any adviser, was more than a match for them all. He hissed fiercely, and every instant coiled himself more firmly round the tree; and in spite of their efforts to keep him straightened out, managed to get his body contracted into a number of j-like curves, which gave him considerable advantage against his would-be captors. " Pull all together, boys ! " exclaimed old Manuel. " If not, he '11 beat us."

Then commenced the tug of war. Old Manuel gave the word, " Heave ho ! " The tree swayed with the shock, but the snake was still fixed there as firm as ever. Another pull, and another by jerks, and again the tree shook and swayed. " Now for a good one! " said Manuel. They set their heels firmly in the soil and lay backward, putting all their weight and strength into the effort. This time not only did the snake come, but with him came also the tree; for its superficial roots gave way, and banana-tree, snake, and men fell together all in a heap, one on top of the other. They let go their hold, scrambled to their feet, and scurried to the gate. The snake was quick to take advantage of the accident. He shot forward before the struggling men had had time to regain their feet, and, rearing his long neck over the six-foot fence, glided over it as easily as if it were only a fallen tree in his forest home. Away down the hill he rushed toward the lake, laying prostrate the rank maize stalks as he passed. Swiftly, too, he went; for, though they snatched their guns instantly to pursue him, still he kept well in the lead, and, going over the rocks, plunged into the lake below before a single trigger could be pulled. He had disappeared, but only for an instant; for soon the long sinuous form became visible gliding away over the surface of the moonlit waters on which he seemed to float, buoyed up, as it were, by the very impetus of his own velocity. He went directly toward the dark wall of forest on the opposite side, but ere he had gained its shadows the noise of the rifleshots of the enemies he had left on the rocks behind him rang out, and echoed again and again among the winding nooks of the forest and rock-bound shore

All that day I had been away in the woods, and now, returning tired from my wanderings, had just at that moment sat down to rest and smoke on the protruding roots of a giant tree growing on the bank over that very part of the lake toward which the flying serpent was now heading. I heard in alarm the ping of the bullets that struck the rocks below me. One crashed through the branches above, cutting through leaves and twigs in its way. Another buried itself with a thud in the turfy bank. Then came the shots and their echoes to explain the flashes I had seen two seconds before across the water. Naturally, I shifted my quarters at once to the other side of the tree, for they were either firing at me or at something in my neighborhood. Long experience of forest life had made me cautious: so I sat as still as a withered stump in the wind, with ears and eyes alert to every rustling leaf, to every blade of grass that stirred about me. The reflection of the moonlight from the water close by, and the occasional beams that stole here and there through the canopy of branches overhead, made the various objects in the vicinity, the fallen leaves and gnarled roots, more conspicuous than they would have been farther away from the forest edge. Happening to cast my eyes toward the water, I saw what appeared to be a great root stretching upward from the lake in which it lay and leaning against the bank close by my elbow. As I looked it appeared to move, and presently the end by my side pushed itself in farther fully two feet over the bank, and again remained motionless. The end of it now lay in a patch of moonlight. It was living, indeed, for there were the glittering eyes and quivering forked tongue of the largest snake it had yet been my lot to encounter. His enormous head and neck lay right in the light, showing a brownish black mottled with yellow markings. Knowing the ways of serpent life, the dullness of their senses, and the sharpness of their eyes for motion, I remained perfectly quiet, expecting that he would soon be on the move again if only I remained unobserved. For a few moments he kept as still as death; not even the sensitive tongue came forth to tell that he suspected the presence of an enemy: and from this I felt certain that I was altogether unnoticed. I longed to capture him alive, but was entirely unprepared for such a feat, and, besides, in the position in which he lay it would have been impossible for me alone to take him, as a struggle of mere strength between us might probably result in my having my ribs crushed like match-wood in his folds. Therefore I prudently determined to wait till the morrow, as I felt confident that he would remain in the vicinity. Though I could not make out exactly of what species he was, yet from appearances I thought he belonged to the boa family, and might possibly be a water-loving anaconda. At last he began to stir. First of all, the forked tongue darted in and out tremblingly ; then he raised his head slightly, and glided forward very slowly, passing on straight into the forest. Though his head had already disappeared in the bushes beyond, and his tail had not yet come up over the bank, his huge body filled all the intervening space. I judged him to be over twenty feet long. Slowly as a snail he crawled on, until finally his tail, too, disappeared in the thicket.
I stealthily took my departure, and soon arrived at the huts, where the story of his attack on the pig, his attempted capture, and his final escape across the lake formed the only topic of conversation among the villagers until far into the night.

When I announced my intention of taking him alive on the morrow, the people laughed at what they called my foolhardiness. " Had n't he already escaped from five strong men, and pulled a tree out by the roots, besides ? " " He would certainly crush and swallow any man he should meet alone," and so on. I was advised not to ramble in the woods by myself again lest he should make a meal of me.

However, I assured them that all I wanted was a sack large enough to hold him, and I would attempt to capture him alive. Old Manuel soon set his pretty daughter, Reglita, to work, and from two coffee-bags she stitched up the large sack I required.
Next morning, accompanied by all the men in the place, I set out, with the sack, to find the snake's lurking-place. It was extremely difficult to persuade the men to leave their guns at home and believe that one man could do what five had been balked at.

We first of all passed round to that part of the lake where he had disappeared. We hunted every thicket and peered into every hollow trunk, but in vain. Then we returned to the waterside, where the bank was high and turfy, matted with roots, and overhung with a dark canopy of trees and vines covered thickly with foliage, stretching far out and dipping into the lake beyond. This overhanging bank looked down on a piece of sand sloping away down to the water's edge, and was hollowed out far under an ancient tree that grew gnarled and knotty above. Seeing what a retreat this would afford, I swung myself down by the vines, and as my feet touched the sand, there I saw him lying, coiled in a heap, nicely drawn in under the arch of roots and well in the shade. An African python he was, of the same species as one I had brought to England eleven years before. He could not have chosen a cooler spot to sleep in. The equatorial sun might blaze overhead, but he could rest all day long in the shadow of the moist bank, and enjoy every breeze from the open surface of the lake beyond. He was just in the position most favorable for me- coiled, with his head well out to the front, and clear of roots and branches. My companions were, meanwhile, searching for him upon the bank above, and I considered it best to leave them there, and say nothing to them of my finding him, lest they should come trooping down and cause him to shift his position.

Accordingly, I prepared to work in silence
and alone. So, standing exactly where I was, about ten feet from him, I unloosed the sack so slowly that I could scarcely be seen to move. This slowness was necessary, lest I should alarm him; for the eye of a snake, as is well known, though slow to note form and color, is extremely alert to any sudden motion. Holding the sack spread out before me with both hands, keeping it mouth upward, and hanging down like a screen to protect my legs from his bites in case he should attack, I advanced toward him inch by inch.

As I approached I could see over the outstretched sack that he never moved. According as I drew closer my progress became yet slower until finally I stood right over him, with the suspended sack between us and within ten inches of his nose. Then at last did he give the first sign of life, running out the quivering forked tongue, and pushing forward until its delicate black points touched the screen that hung between us. He was not alarmed ; so I gradually lowered it over him, covering up his head and neck so that he could n't see me. Then I quietly dropped on one knee, and let down the whole sack upon him, almost completely covering him up. Noting well where his head was, I quickly but gently ran in my right hand under the sack, and got my fingers well round his throat just behind the jaws. I neither pulled him nor pushed him; neither lifted him up nor pressed him down : I simply held him firmly but yet withal so gently that he felt no violence. All was ready now for the final stroke. With my left hand I quickly jerked the sack off his head, spreading it full length away before him along the sand, and by the same rapid movement brought the mouth of it forward, so that his head, which I raised slightly at the same time, lay now exactly inside the opening. He hissed slightly then for the first time. Hurriedly I gathered up the mouth of the sack with my left hand, keeping his head grasped in my right within it. He tried to pull back, but by throwing myself well over on the left knee I managed to kick him vigorously on the tail with my right foot. This made him instantly shoot forward into the depths of the sack, which I held well gathered up with my left hand, so that he had sufficient room to enter but no opening by which to get his head out again. My right hand, which had held his neck, 1 pulled away as soon as he began to move inward, and now used it to accelerate his speed in getting in the rest of his body which yet remained outside. I quickened his inward retreat considerably by scratching his back, especially near the tail, a kind of interference generally disagreeable to all members of the serpent family. He hurried to draw himself wholly within the sack and coil himself near the bottom, thus reaching, as it seemed to his reptilian intelligence, a place of security from disturbance.
While he was yet only half in, my friends on the bank above discovered me, and craned their necks over to see the interesting spectacle. But they never uttered a word until the last tip of his tail disappeared, when, swinging down by vines and branches, they grouped round and assisted, with laughter and cheering, at the tying up of the sack with a stout cord.
Upon a stretcher made of two long green poles we carefully lifted the captive, and bore him proudly homeward in triumph