Part 32
"One morning, as I sat at breakfast," says a writer in the Penny Magazine, "I heard a loud noise and shouting among my palankeen bearers. On enquiry, I learned that they had seen a large hooded snake, and were trying to kill it. I immediately went out, and saw the snake creeping up a very high green mound, whence it escaped into a hole, in an old wall of an ancient fortification; the men were armed with their sticks, which they always carry in their hands, and had attempted in vain to kill the reptile, which had eluded their pursuit, and in his hole had coiled himself up securely, whilst we could see his bright eyes shining. I had often desired to ascertain the truth of the report, as to the effect of music upon snakes. I therefore enquired for a snake-catcher. There was one about three miles off, and I accordingly sent for him, keeping a strict watch over the snake, which never attempted to escape, whilst we, his enemies, were in sight. About an hour elapsed, when my messengers returned, bringing a snake-catcher. This man wore no covering on his head, nor any on his person, excepting a small piece of cloth round his loins; he had in his hands two baskets, one containing tame snakes, the other empty; these, and his musical pipe, were the only things he had with him. I made the snake-catcher leave his two baskets on the ground, at some distance, while he ascended the mound with his pipe alone. He began to play: at the sound of music the snake came gradually and slowly out of his hole. When he was entirely within reach, the snake-catcher seized him dexterously by the tail, and held him thus at arm's length, while the snake, enraged, darted his head in all directions, but in vain; thus suspended, he has not the power to round himself, so as to seize hold of his tormentor. He exhausted himself in vain exertions; when the snake-catcher descended the bank, dropped him into the empty basket, and closed the lid, he then began to play, and after a short time raising the lid of the basket, the snake darted about wildly, and attempted to escape; the lid was shut down again quickly, the music always playing. This was repeated two or three times; and, in a very short interval, the lid being again raised, the snake sat on his tail, opened his hood, and danced quite as quietly as the tame snakes in the other basket, nor did he again attempt to escape."
The Cobra as Companion of the Bath.
A gentleman in India once visited a neighbouring station for the purpose of taking part in a cricket match, and was hospitably entertained. He was put up in a large tent, accompanied by his wife. After the day's play, at dusk, he went between the canvas walls of the tent where his bath was ready. Touching the bath-tub, were placed two large earthenware jars, full of cold water, and next to them was a brass basin, also containing water, on a stand; the light was burning in the centre of the tent so that between the canvas walls was darkness. He stepped into the tub, and finding the water too hot, bent down to take up one of the cold water jars, but something induced him instinctively to refrain. He stayed his hand, at the same time calling out to his wife to bring a light, which she did when, to his horror, he saw a large cobra coiled round the mouth of the jar, within a foot of his naked legs. The sensation can be imagined. To move was probably death, to stand still required nerve. Experience and courage decided the point, and fixing his eye on the reptile, he quietly told his wife to put down the light on the ground and get him a stick. The wife, a sensible creature, obeyed, leaving her lord in the agonies of suspense as to what the snake's next move would be. This was soon settled by the reptile uncoiling itself and gliding up the chillumchee stand on to the basin, from which it commenced drinking. By this time the stick was gently put into the bather's hand, who with a well-directed blow cut the snake in half against the edge of the copper basin, thus putting a full stop to a thrilling period.
A Night with a Cobra.
"I was on a visit during the rainy season, a few years ago," says a recent writer, "when I slept upon an iron bedstead which had two lots of bedding on it. The first night I awoke, as I thought with a horrible nightmare, feeling the cold slimy body of a snake gliding over my person, and imagining myself in the regions described in Milton's _Paradise Lost_, and so wondrously drawn by Doré. I was bathed in perspiration, and trembled all over till daylight brought relief, and I convinced myself it must have been merely a nightmare. But the next night I again awoke in terror, feeling the same awful sensation of a cold, clammy body gliding gently along my side, and passing with a wriggle over my body; terror preventing me moving. Whether I fainted or again fell asleep I have never been able to decide, but at daylight I fled from the room and sat cowering in the verandah, in a state of mind bordering on insanity. My hostess was informed of my state, and got me round with a glass of wine. Nothing would induce me to re-enter my bedroom. The bearer and other domestics were sent for, and headed by the mistress of the house, inspected the bed by removing the sheets. Nothing was to be seen till one of the servants brushed his leg against something soft and cold, and looked down at the junction of the two beddings; he saw the end of a dark-coloured tail. A howl from him scattered the servants and made me imagine the snake was about to attack me. The valiant servants again assembled, and with sticks entered the bedroom and poked off the upper bedding, revealing a large hooded cobra coiled in the centre, which was eventually despatched by blows."
An Unpleasant Bedfellow.
A soldier in a regiment stationed at C---- was, for disorderly conduct, condemned to pass the night in one of the cells. Just as he was going to sleep he was startled by hearing a noise, which he knew could only be occasioned by a snake. Instead of jumping up and calling to the sentinel for help, and perhaps treading on the snake and being bitten by it, he lay perfectly still, knowing that unless disturbed the snake would not hurt him. Presently the snake drew its cold slimy body over his bare feet. There are few persons who, in a similar condition, would not have drawn up their legs with a start, but our hero did not even move. Soon the snake began to crawl over his body and even passed over his face. The poor soldier hardly dared to breathe. At last the reptile coiled itself under his pillow, and when day broke our soldier, seizing the stone with which he ought to have blocked up the hole by which the snake entered, crushed it to death. On being examined, the reptile proved to be of a kind whose bite is almost invariably fatal.
The Boa Constrictor.
The Boa Constrictor is one of the largest of the snake kind. It is not venomous, but is possessed of enormous strength which it shows by coiling itself round the object of its attack and crushing it into a shapeless mass. It belongs to tropical America and feeds on birds, and animals of all kinds, not hesitating to attack even the larger quadrupeds. The following account from the pen of Mr. Byam will give an idea of the way in which these monsters dispose of their prey.
The Boa and its Prey.
An Englishman and an Indian, travelling together through a thick forest, heard a noise like the cry of a child in great pain. Pulling out their pistols, and tying up their horses, they proceeded to the spot, and there saw a boa crushing a young roebuck with short horns. It had wound itself twice round its prey, just behind the shoulders, one coil lying on the other to increase the weight, and its teeth were fastened on the back of the deer's head. The tail was twisted twice round a young tree close by. It was too busy to observe the strangers; and the Englishman wished to attack it, and save the deer; but the Indian walked off very gently, and made signs to him to follow. When they had regained their horses, the Indian said it would have been madness to have fought with the irritated animal, and they went their way. This was seven in the morning, and they marked the spot by notching the trees. At four in the afternoon they again passed that way, and found the boa lying straight upon the ground; one of the horns of the roebuck sticking out of a corner of the mouth, and the other looking as if it would perforate the neck of the snake; the tail was still coiled round the tree, and the middle of the body looked like a nine-gallon cask. A few blows of the hunting sword about the tail finished the monster; but when attacked, it tried to throw up the deer." The boa has been known to measure upwards of twenty-five feet, though commonly not exceeding eighteen feet.
The Boa's Appetite.
Captain Heyland thus describes a boa which was in his possession for some time:--"The animal was brought to me early in January, and did not taste food from that time until the July following. During this period he generally drank a quart of water daily. The man who brought him stated, that he had been seen to eat a hog deer the day before he was taken. He was allowed to be at liberty in the grounds about my house. One evening early in July, hearing a noise, I went out, and discovered that the snake had left his harbour, under the boards of a stable where he generally lay; and having entered a small shed in which some fowls were roosting, had swept eleven from the perch, and destroyed them by pressing them between his folds. Then taking them one by one, head foremost into his mouth, swallowed the whole down in twenty minutes. The largest animal that he ate while in my possession was a calf, which he killed and gorged in two hours and twenty minutes. He never attacked dogs, cats, or pigs. Of these last, indeed, he seemed to be in dread, for, whenever one was presented to him, he retired to a corner, and coiled himself up, with his head undermost. If fed with animals not larger than a duck, he ate readily every day; but after the meal of a goat, refused food for a month."
A Terrible Boa.
Not many years ago, says a writer in "Chums," a boa escaped from a menagerie at Grenoble, and disappeared without leaving a trace. A few days afterwards a certain Monsieur Flisson went on a visit to Beauregard along with a friend, who accompanied him on an excursion among the romantic hills and rocks in that part of the country. At a particularly interesting spot he tarried behind his friend, and, in order to enjoy the glorious prospect, sat down on what appeared to be a stone covered with soft moss. It was eight o'clock in the evening, and M. Flisson, though shortsighted, was a man of prodigious strength. This was lucky for him, for the stone now began to move under him, stretched itself out with the elasticity of a spring, and lifted him several feet from the ground. M. Flisson had sat down on the boa. Before he had time to recover his presence of mind, he felt himself rolling downwards. The serpent had curled his tail round a tree-trunk, and Flisson held its head firmly grasped between his hands. A strange and terrible struggle ensued. The boa, securely fastened to the tree, pulled upwards, and Flisson, still clinging with herculean strength to the head of the creature, found himself at last swinging over a precipice or about seventy feet in depth, as though suspended by a rope. In this terrible situation he remained ten minutes, until his friend, with the assistance of a few countrymen, came to his relief.
A Narrow Escape.
Mr. Byam's book contains many interesting anecdotes of the experiences of travellers, of which the following snake story is one.
"Two travellers passed a hillock in a marsh, and heard some groans proceeding from a man on the top of it. Earnestly beckoned to approach, they at first hesitated, thinking it might be a contrivance to entice them into danger. They, however, went near, and the man told them that, while asleep, a snake had crept up his loose drawers, and was then lying on his stomach, and from what he had seen of it, he believed it to be a Coral-snake, one of the deadliest of the western serpents. He had nothing on but his drawers and a short cloak. The travellers saw the form of the snake under the drawers; they dismounted, put on thick gloves, took a pair of scissors, cut very carefully through the drawers till they came to the head of the animal, still fast asleep, and then one of them seized it by the neck, and so released the poor man. It was nearly three feet long, as thick as a walking-stick, coral-red in colour, with yellow rings. The poor man said he had passed two or three hours in that dangerous situation, which appeared as long as weeks, and had called to two or three passers-by, who had all avoided him, from the supposition that it was the decoy of a marauding Indian. He was completely unmanned, and his strength was prostrated by his apprehensions."
CLASS IV--BATRACHIA.
The Batrachia.
Class IV of the Vertebrata comprises the Batrachia. Batrachia, which are divided into three orders: I Pseudophidia, II Urodela, III Anura. The first order comprises the limbless worm-like reptiles of the genus Cæcilia of Africa and South America; the second includes the Newts, the Salamanders, etc., etc.; the third the Frogs and the Toads. Leaving the first two orders, we devote a few lines to the third, dealing with the Toad, the Common Frog and the Tree Frog. The members of this order are singular for the extraordinary changes through which they pass between birth and maturity. As Tadpoles, in which form they first reach life, they have thick black legless bodies ending in tapering tails, and are provided with the fishlike anatomy necessary to an aquatic existence. In the process of development they completely change both in internal arrangement and external appearance. The gills are exchanged for lungs, the legs supersede the tail and the internal system undergoes corresponding change. In the end the animal becomes semi-aquatic, capable of living under water for some time, but compelled to come to the surface for air at intervals; and also of living out of the water altogether in such places as afford sufficient moisture, damp being as necessary to their comfort as food and air. They hybernate in the winter and propagate in the spring; and in times of drought burrow into the earth and remain lethargic until rain falls. They feed on insects and slugs for which they have a voracious appetite. Their tongues, which like those of the chameleon and other insect eaters, are furnished with a sticky mucus to which insects adhere,--when in repose, turn inwards towards the throat, and the act of catching flies and other insects is simply that of flapping the tongue out and in again, an act performed with such rapidity as to almost escape observation.
The Common Toad.
The toad is found in all temperate and torrid climes. It hides in damp secluded places during the day emerging in search of food at night, or after the fall of rain. Though voracious in its appetite, it can accommodate itself to circumstances, and can subsist with little food, if its abode be damp. Failing food and damp, it has yet another resource, namely that of sleep, or torpor, in which condition it can lay by and wait for better times. Under such circumstances, the toad naturally lives a long life, and survives conditions usually fatal. The voracity of the toad is attested by the following incident, furnished by Captain Brown. "A gentleman who resides at Keswick, Cumberland, one evening in the latter end of July, observed a rustling among the strawberries in his garden, and on examining what it was, found that a toad had just seized a field-mouse, which had got on the toad's back, scratching and biting to get released, but in vain. The toad kept his hold, and as the strength of the mouse failed, he gradually drew the unfortunate little animal into his mouth, and gorged him."
Tame Toads.
The toad may be easily tamed. Mr. Wood tells of one which lived with a family for years and was in the habit of supping on a piece of sugar. The story of the Duke of Wellington and the tame toad deserves telling in this connection. The Duke of Wellington was one day taking his usual country walk, when he heard a cry of distress. He walked to the spot, and found a chubby, rosyfaced boy lying on the ground, and bending his head over a tame toad, and crying as if his little heart would break. Enquiry elicited the fact that the boy was about to be sent to boarding school and that he was afraid the toad, lacking his attention, would die in his absence. The duke promised to look after the toad, and apprise the boy, from time to time, of its condition. During the time the boy was at school he received five letters couched in the following terms:--_Strathfieldsaye, July 27, 1837_. "Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington is happy to inform William Harries that his toad is alive and well." When the boy returned for his Christmas holidays, the toad was, as the duke said, "Alive and well," but, in accordance with the usual habits of these animals, he was in his winter's sleep, in which he remained until spring and genial weather brought him from his well-guarded hole in the ground.
The Common Frog.
The Common Frog (_Rana Temporaria_) is now found all over the British Isles. Formerly unknown in Ireland it was introduced there about the year 1700 and has since spread all over the country. The frog is more sociable than the toad, and is often seen, and heard in large numbers; his habits, however, are very similar, and his mode of seizing his prey the same. The Edible Frog belongs to Europe, where it is used as an article of food, and is not found in England. The Bull Frog is an Indian Variety and attains to a great size. The American Bull Frog is also an interesting species.
The Ingenuity of the Frog.
Mr. Jesse gives the following illustration of the ingenuity of the Frog: "I may mention a curious observation made in regard to some frogs that had fallen down a small area, which gave light to one of the windows of my house. The top of the area being on a level with the ground, was covered with some iron bars, through which the frogs fell. During dry and warm weather, when they could not absorb much moisture, I observed them to appear almost torpid; but when it rained they became impatient of their confinement, and endeavoured to make their escape, which they did in the following manner. The wall of the area was about five feet in height, and plastered and whitewashed, as smooth as the ceiling of a room. Upon this surface the frogs soon found that their claws would render them little or no assistance; they therefore contracted their large feet, so as to make a hollow in the centre, and by means of the moisture which they had imbibed in consequence of the rain, they contrived to produce a vacuum, so that by the pressure of the air on the extended feet (in the same way that we see boys take up a stone by means of a piece of wet leather fastened to a string), they ascended the wall and made their escape. This happened constantly in the course of three years."
The Tree Frog.
The Tree Frog, of which there are numerous varieties, belongs to both East and West occurring in China and Japan or well as in North and South America. It is not found in England. Mr. Gosse says: "They are very numerous in the damp woods of tropical America, and reside by day in the tufts of those parasitical plants, which form reservoirs for rain-water. The under-surface of their bodies is very different to that of the terrestrial species; for the skin, instead of being smooth, is covered with granular glands, pierced by numerous pores, through which the dew or rain, spread on the surface of the leaves, is rapidly absorbed into the system, and reserved to supply the moisture needful for cutaneous respiration. The males make the woods resound throughout the night with their various cries, and, mingled with the shrill chirping of insects, quite banish sleep from the stranger's eyes."
CLASS V--PISCES.
Fishes.
We come now to the fifth and last class of the Vertebrata, a class so large that it is impossible to deal adequately with it in a single volume of ordinary size, much less in a single section of one treating of the whole of the vertebrates. There are said to be 10,000 species, so that a book which devoted one page to each would make an enormous volume. All that can be done here is to deal with a few of the better known species, as far as possible selecting types of orders-without attempting to follow closely any classification. Günther divides the Fishes into six sub-classes, which are further arranged in thirteen orders. The first of these orders includes the Sticklebacks, the Perches, the Mullets, the Gurnards, the Mackerel and the Sword-fish besides others. Of these we can deal with but two or three.
The Stickleback.
The Stickleback associated with the earliest efforts of the youthful angler, and most of us can remember capturing specimens of some fresh water variety, in the days of childhood, and carrying them home in triumph, in a bottle. There are a number of species of the stickleback, some living in fresh water and some being marine. They are extremely voracious and it is a good job for a large number of other living things that they are no bigger than they are. They are also very pugnacious, and fight among themselves with great determination. The Stickleback is about an inch and a half in length and is furnished with spines, which it uses with great effect when fighting with its enemies.
The Stickleback and the Leech.
Mr. John Stark who experimented with some sticklebacks and leeches some years ago, gives the following description of his experiences.