so it is necessary to proceed very carefully and to look
attentively both up and down in order not to disturb them.

The serpent, when stumbled against, hurls itself as quick as lightning
upon the unhappy offender, encircling and suffocating him with its coils
and biting him with its sharp fangs even when they are not poisoned.
Like all other animals it becomes ferocious and seeks to kill from fear.
He who disturbs it is a foe to be vanquished.

But if you pass him without being afraid and without hurrying, with a
slow gliding step, taking care not to move your hands or arms, it will
let you go on your way and take no notice of you.

And this I can affirm from experiments I have myself made upon the
terrible _sendok_.

One day I was able, in this way, to pass quite close, almost touching
one of these most venomous reptiles. He never moved as I crept by but he
did not lose sight of me for a single instant. I am quite sure that if
my inward fear had betrayed itself by the slightest gesture, I should
have been a dead man.

Sometimes I have succeeded, very, very gently, in placing upon it a
stick about two metres long. Well, the horrid serpent just lazily
unfolded its coils and softly slipped from under it. Very different
would have been the result if I had put the stick upon its head roughly!

From this you will see that danger from snakes is much less than one
might believe from the thrilling adventures narrated by friends (between
a roast chestnut and a sip of wine), as they are snugly gathered round a
cosy fireside, adventures which they have read in the fabulous pages
written by one of those story-tellers who gull the respectable public
with the loveliest or the most terrifying descriptions of places, men
and beasts of which they scarcely know the name.

Serpents are always attacked and beaten down with sticks, except the
very large ones, that are taken by lassoes as I will explain in another
chapter. It is a quick and simple means of getting free, in a few
minutes, of a venomous enemy which it never fails to do when fear does
not make the eye and the hand miss its aim, precision in the blow being
all that is needed.

Not very long since I had an adventure with one of these reptiles which
threatened to be my last. I was quietly strolling in the forest and had
with me neither weapon nor stick. My thoughts were far away but a
rustling sound and a loud hiss brought them quickly back and arrested my
steps. A larg