by a whirlwind. But the remainder of the story shall be
given in the traveler's own words:

I advanced up to the place slow and cautious. The snake was well
concealed, but at last I made him out; it was a coulacanara, not
poisonous, but large enough to have crushed any of us to death. On
measuring him afterward, he was something more than fourteen feet long.
This species of snake is very rare, and much thicker in proportion to
its length than any other snake in the forest. A coulacanara of fourteen
feet in length, is as thick as a common boa of twenty-four feet. After
skinning this snake, I could easily get my head into his mouth, as the
singular formation of the jaws admits of wonderful extension.

On ascertaining the size of the serpent, I retired slowly the way I
came, and promised four dollars to the negro who had shown it to me, and
one dollar to the other who had joined us. Aware that the day was on the
decline, and that the approach of night would be detrimental to the
dissection, a thought struck me that I could take him alive. I imagined
that if I could strike him with the lance behind the head, and pin him
to the ground, I might succeed in capturing him. When I told this to the
negroes, they begged and entreated me to let them go for a gun and bring
more force, as they were sure the snake would kill some of us. Taking,
however, a cutlass from one of the negroes, and then ranging both of the
sable slaves behind me, I told them to follow me, and that I would cut
them down if they offered to fly. When we had got up to the place, the
serpent had not stirred: but I could see nothing of his head, and judged
by the folds of his body that it must be at the farthest side of the
den. A species of woodbine formed a complete mantle over the branches of
the fallen tree, almost impervious to the rain or the rays of the sun.
Probably he had resorted to this sequestered place for a length of time,
as it bore marks of an ancient settlement.

I now took my knife, determined to cut away the woodbine, and break the
twigs in the gentlest manner possible, till I could get a view of his
head. One negro stood guard close behind me with a cutlass. The cutlass
which I had taken from the first negro, was on the ground close beside
me, in case of need. After working in dead silence for a quarter of an
hour, with one knee all the time on the ground, I had cleared away
enough to see his head. It appeared coming out between the first and