The Aborigines Have A Great Dread Of This Reptile; They However Eat Of It If They Kill It Themselves, But There Is A Superstition Amongst Them About Snakes, Which Prevents Their Eating Them If Killed By A European.

The specimen I figured was a small one, 3 ft.

9 in. long; they are often seen by the natives much larger. I have endeavoured to represent it as it generally sleeps or lies in wait for its prey, small birds, frogs, lizards, etc. It delights in swamps and marshes.

Killed October, 1844.

FAM. BOIDAE

PYTHON. Native name WAKEL or WA-A-KEL. This snake is considered by the natives a great delicacy, and by their account resembles mutton in flavour, being also remarkably fat. I requested them to let me taste the specimen from which the drawing was made; but they devoured every atom themselves, pretending they did not understand me. The WAKEL differs from the NORN in its habits; although both ascend trees in pursuit of small birds and the young of the opossums. The WAKEL delights in rocky, dry places, near salt water; they are very sluggish, and easily caught by the women, who seize them behind the head and wring their necks. They are described to have been seen 9 or 10 feet long. My specimen, a young male, was exactly 5 feet long. The scales of this species are firmly fixed to the skin, in plates all over the back and belly. The colour is beautiful, dark greenish brown, finely variegated with yellowish white spots.

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