The Boa Constrictor.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 2, Issue 27, 3 January 1850, Page 4

The Boa Constrictor.

Having copied into our last number an account of the successful encounter of Prince Adelbert with a boa constrictor, we deem it incumbent to furnish some further description of tho»e prodigious serpents. As has already been mentioned, this snake, (of which there are several varieiies, but all so closely resembling each other as to be recognized under the common appellation of boa constrictor) measures five and twenty to fee and thirty, and even to forty, feet in length, with a girth equal to that of the body of a lull grown man. It is not venomous but it is furnished with a double row of strong teeth, curving backwards towards the throat: these teeth are designed by nature to enable the serpent to grasp and to retain its prey; they are not intended to assist in ils being devoured, for serpents never masticate ; their food is covered with the saliva with which nature ha 9 liberally supplied them, and when they have covered their victims with this, such is the peculiar construction of their jaws, and such their extraordinary faculty of distention that they are enabled to swallow animals greatly exceeding their own circumference. The vicinity of brook* and water courses, marshy meadows, skirts of forests, and similar spots are the favourite haunls of the boa constrictor. There, coiled np and motionless as a log, they lie in wait for their piey; no sooner has it come within their reach than it is seized by their terrible fang?, and theii, with the rapidity of lightning| the sufferer is clasped in a maze of folds, twist alter twist being lapped upon each oilier to facilitate the reptile in crushing the creature into the smallest and most convenient form for gorging. The boa constrictor miy he most safely attacked when engaged with his victim, for such, is s.iid to he the tenacity with which ho clings to it, that he will fuller himself lo l c hewn to pieces sooner than f< rcgo his hold, lie may also bu assailed, with comparative security, duiing the Elate of torpor which, for several weeks, succeeds his monstrous repast. So ravenous is lhis rrplilc,and so creedy ill its desire of food, that it has been seen with portions c[ its enorrous, half-gulped, prey hauling iu a stnte of loathsome decomposition from i's ferocious ovi r-strained jaws. The follou ing account of the capture and death of a buffalo (ox) is gnen in a German woik. by a person who fays lie was a f-pec-laior of the struggle. "The serpent had been waiting, for s'me time, near the brink of a [ 001. in expectation of a prev, when a bullaio was the fi'st that offered. Having darted njicn the affrighted aiiimal, it instantly began to wrap ii round wiih ils voluminous Hustings; and at every f-»i*l li e lones of the buffalo were heard to < rack. It "as in vain that the poor nuinial struggled and bellowed ; its enormous enemy (liUwiud it too closely lo gel free; till ut length, all his liones being mashed lo pieces, ami the wliol:ieiluccd to one uniform mass, he ocrp cue untwined its I'oida to swallow it

prey nt leisure. To prepare for (tiis, and in order lo make the boily slip down the throat more glibly, it was seen Co lick (lie whole body over, and thus cover it with its slimy spittle. It then began to swallow it at that end that offered leist re-istance, while its length of body was dilated to received its prey, and thus took in at once n morsel three times its own thickness.''

Man is frequently the victim of the hot constrictor as will be seen from llic following Several years since "a Malay prow wa* making for the port of Amboyna, but the pilot, finding she could not onter it befor< dark, brought her to anchor for the nighi close under the island of Celebes. One of th( crew went on shore in quest of betel-nuts ir the woods, and 011 his return, lay down, as i< supposed, to sleep 011 tlie beach. In the coursi of the night he was heard by bis comrades ti scream out for assistance. They immediate)* went on shore—but, it was too late, for ar immense snake of this species had crushed bin to death. The attention of the monster bein< entirely occupied by his prey, (lie people won boldly up to it, cut oil' its bead, imd took i and the body of the man on board their boat The snake had seized the poor fellow by tin wrist, where ihu marks of the fangs were verj distinct; and (110 mangled corpse bore cviden signs of being crushed by t'-e monster's twisting itself round the neck, head, breast ami thigh. The length of the snake was aboul 30 feet ; its thickness equal to that of a modo-inte-sizcd man ; and on extending its j.iws, they »cre found wide enough to admit, at once, a body of the size of a man's head. Wc ate also told of " the captain of a conn, try ship, who, while passing the Sundcrbuuds, sent a boat into one of the creeks to obtain some fresh fruits, which are cultivated by tho lew miserable inhabitants of that inhospitable region. Having reached the shoie, the crew moored the boat under a bank, and left one ol their party to take care of her. During theit absence, the Lascar who remained in charge of if, overcome by heat, lay down under the seals, and fell asleep. While he was in this state of unconsciousness, all enormous boaconstrictor emerged from the jungle, rc.iched the boat, had already coilpd its huge bodv round the sleeper, and was in the act of crusli'ing him to death, when his companions fortunately returned, and attacking the monster, severed n portion of its toil, which so disabled it, that it no looser retained the power of doing mischief. Tho snake was then easily despatched, and was found to measure o'2 feet and some inches in length. * We shall i;ive one more iii9(anct>, delivered 10 us, orally, by a friend. One of the negro villages of Central Africa had, for a length of time, been infested by ■ a stupendous boa, which had, upon sundry occasions, made prey of several of its unfurtunate inhabitants ; these ravages filled the poor people's hearts with terror and dism ay, and large rewards were offered to any individual sufficiently courageous to effect its destruction. One mail was at length found lo encounter the peril, which he did upon the promise that the villagers should implic tly obey his directions. The snake, it seems, burrowed in a certain hole, by the edge of a clump of lrcej> This hole, tho champion gave orders, should he watched night ami day for several weeks, the watchers keeping up uu an incessant beating of tomtoms (drum?) and other noisy instruments, lo scare the snake and confine him at hoinc.— When he had lasted sufficiently, his antagonist 'ordered the noise to cease. H« then, having encased his limbs in a strong tough hide, approached the hole, and flaring anointed his right leg and thigh with a rank-smelling oil, deliberately thrust it down the hole. Alter a lime the boa was attracted to the banquet ; he commenced by sucking in the negro's foot, gradually drawing himself up tho brave'fellow's leg and thigh until lie had nearly reached the fork. Now wis the negro's time for action in an ins aut he passed a 10115, strong, sharp knife down tli j monstei's throat, dividing tho jaws with equal courage and dexterity, laying his enormous enemy ilead at his foot. M'e conclude, with the following illustration. —" Mr. Cops, tho keeper ol the lion-olhce in the Tower of I.ondou, was holding a fowl to 1 lie head of one ol tiie snakes, at the time nearly blind—in consequence of having recently cast its *kin (.Snakes cast (licit skins annually.) The snake darted at the bird, ii, but seized the keeper by tile left thumb, and coiled round his arm aatl neck in a moment, Mr. Coj s not being able 10 get at its head, had thrown himself upon the floor, in order to grapple with a betlcr chance of success, when two oilier keepers coming in, broke the leetli of the serpent, and with some difficulty relieved Mr. Cops from bis perilous siluiilioii. Two broken teeth were extruded from the thumb, without any further inconiicucc from the encounter.

* It is proper to observe that the groat length attributed to this Eiuke is grneially esteemed to 1c an At all ercnts, forty feet is considered to Lit: the length of a very large one.