We Were Proceeding Slowly Along, When The Tracker, Who
Was In Advance, Suddenly Sprang Back And Pointed To Some Object In The
Path.
It was certainly enough to startle any man.
An enormous serpent
lay coiled in the path. His head was about the size of a very small
cocoa-nut, divided lengthways, and this was raised about eighteen inches
above the coil. His eyes were fixed upon us, and his forked tongue
played in and out of his mouth with a continued hiss. Aiming at his
head, I fired at him with a double-barrelled gun, within four paces, and
blew his head to pieces. He appeared stone dead; but upon pulling him by
the tail, to stretch him out at full length, he wreathed himself in
convulsive coils, and lashing himself out in full length, he mowed down
the high grass in all directions. This obliged me to stand clear, as his
blows were terrific, and the thickest part of his body was as large as a
man's thigh. I at length thought of an expedient for securing him.
Cutting some sharp-pointed stakes, I waited till he was again quiet,
when I suddenly pinned his tail to the ground with my hunting-knife, and
thrusting the pointed stake into the hole, I drove it deeply into the
ground with the butt end of my rifle. The boa made some objection to
this, and again he commenced his former muscular contortions. I waited
till they were over, and having provided myself with some tough jungle
rope (a species of creeper), I once more approached him, and pinning his
throat to the ground with a stake, I tied the rope through the incision,
and the united exertions of myself and three men hauled him out
perfectly straight. I then drove a stake firmly through his throat and
pinned him out. He was fifteen feet in length, and it required our
united strength to tear off his skin, which shone with a variety of
passing colours. On losing his hide he tore away from the stakes; and
although his head was shivered to atoms, and he had lost three feet of
his length of neck by the ball having cut through this part, which
separated in tearing off the skin, still he lashed out and writhed in
frightful convulsions, which continued until I left him, bearing as my
trophy his scaly hide. These boas will kill deer, and by crushing them
into a sort of sausage they are enabled by degrees to swallow them.
There are many of these reptiles in Ceylon; but they are seldom seen, as
they generally wander forth at night. There are marvellous stories of
their size, and my men assured me that they had seen much larger than
the snake now mentioned; to me he appeared a horrible monster.
I do not know anything so disgusting as a snake. There is an instinctive
feeling that the arch enemy is personified when these wretches glide by
you, and the blood chills with horror. I took the dried skin of this
fellow to England; it measures twelve feet in its dry state, minus the
piece that was broken from his neck, making him the length before
mentioned of fifteen feet.
I have often been astonished that comparatively so few accidents happen
in Ceylon from snake-bites; their immense number and the close nature of
the country making it a dangerous risk to the naked feet of the natives.
I was once lying upon a sofa in a rest-house at Kandellai, when I saw a
snake about four feet long glide in at the open door, and, as though
accustomed to a particular spot for his lodging, he at once climbed upon
another sofa and coiled himself under the pillow. My brother had only
just risen from this sofa, and was sitting at the table watching the
movements of his uninvited bedfellow. I soon poked him out with a stick,
and cut off his head with a hunting-knife. This snake was of a very
poisonous description, and was evidently accustomed to lodge behind the
pillow, upon which the unwary sleeper might have received a fatal bite.
Upon taking possession of an unfrequented rest-house, the cushions of
the sofas and bedsteads should always be examined, as they are great
attractions to snakes, scorpions, centipedes, and all manner of
reptiles.
CHAPTER VII
Capabilities of Ceylon--Deer at Illepecadewe--Sagacity of a Pariah
Dog--Two Deer at One Shot--Deer-stalking--Hambantotte Country--Kattregam
Festival--Sitrawelle--Ruins of Ancient Mahagam-- Wiharewelle--A Night
Attack upon Elephants--Shooting by Moonlight--Yalle River--Another
Rogue--A Stroll before Breakfast-- A Curious Shot--A Good Day's Sport.
There are few countries which present a more lovely appearance than
Ceylon. There is a diversity in the scenery which refreshes the eye; and
although the evergreen appearance might appear monotonous to some
persons, still, were they residents, they would observe that the colour
of the foliage is undergoing a constant change by the varying tints of
the leaves in the different stages of their growth. These tints are far
more lovely than the autumnal shades of England, and their brilliancy is
enhanced by the idea that it is the bursting of the young leaf into
life, the freshness of youth instead of the sere leaf of a past summer,
which, after gilding for a few days the beauty of the woods, drops from
frozen branches and deserts them. Every shade of colour is seen in the
Ceylon forests, as the young leaves are constantly replacing those which
have fallen without being missed. The deepest crimson, the brightest
yellow and green of every shade, combine to form a beautiful crest to
the forest-covered surface of the island.
There is no doubt, however, that there is too much wood in Ceylon; it
prevents the free circulation of air, and promotes dampness, malaria,
and consequently fevers and dysentery, the latter disease being the
scourge of the colony.
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