's career was brought to an end, the monster
sinking down in the muddy water.

On one occasion a great serpent was seen hanging in folds across the
bough of a tree which dipped lower towards the river with its weight.

It was Brace's charge of buckshot which tumbled it off with a tremendous
splash into the river, where it writhed and lashed the water up into
foam before making for the shore, swimming with ease, much to their
surprise.

The spot where it landed was fairly open, and in the excitement caused
by the adventure the boat, which was always kept towing behind the brig,
was manned.

Brace, the American, Dan, the second mate, and four men followed to get
a good opportunity for putting the reptile out of its misery when it had
about half-crawled out among the bushes.

A well-placed shot in the head effected this, and the body lay heaving
gently while the party landed. The question was then eagerly discussed
what should be done.

"We ought to have that skin," said Brace. "It is an enormous brute.
Why, judging from what we can see, it must be thirty feet long."

"Say forty," cried Briscoe, laughing. "But who's to skin it?"

The question was received in dead silence, everyone gazing down at the
slowly-heaving monster, about ten feet of the fore part of its body
lying where it had crawled, and it was easy enough to believe that
another twenty or thirty feet of the creature lay out of sight in the
muddy water.

"I wouldn't do that job for a crown," whispered one of the men to
another, and a chorus of grunts followed.

"Well," said Lynton, "who is going to volunteer? Mr Brace wants that
skin taken off. We must have a rope round the beggar's neck, throw one
end over one of the branches of a tree, and then we can haul him up
higher and higher as we peel him down from the head."

"And suppose he begins to twissen himself up in a knot and lash out with
his tail?" growled one of the men.

"Bah!" cried Lynton. "Here, a couple of you row back to the brig and
get a coil of rope. I'll skin the brute myself if someone will help me
to do the job."

"I'll volunteer, Mr Lynton," cried Brace; while Dan smiled and took off
his coat before rolling up his shirt-sleeves.

"Will you, sir?" cried the mate; "then we'll soon do the job; but it's a
bit nasty and slimy, you know, and I expect it will make us smell of
snake for some days."

"Never mind," said Brace. "I'd do anything rather than lose that skin."

Ther