Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
topic in my hand, when gazing upwards I saw a large mass of something overhead which I
had not noticed before. Looking more carefully I could see yellow and black marks, and
thought it must be a tortoise-shell put up there out of the way between the ridge-pole and the
roof. Continuing to gaze, it suddenly resolved itself into a large snake, compactly coiled up
in a kind of knot; and I could detect his head and his bright eyes in the very centre of the
folds. The noise of the evening before was now explained. A python had climbed up one of
the posts of the house, and had made his way under the thatch within a yard of my head, and
taken up a comfortable position in the roof—and I had slept soundly all night directly under
him.
I called to my two boys who were skinning birds below and said, 'Here's a big snake in
the roof;' but as soon as I had shown it to them they rushed out of the house and begged me
to come out directly. Finding they were too much afraid to do anything, we called some of
the labourers in the plantation, and soon had half a dozen men in consultation outside. One
of these, a native of Bouru, where there are a great many snakes, said he would get him out,
and proceeded to work in a business-like manner. He made a strong noose of rattan, and
with a long pole in the other hand poked at the snake, who then began slowly to uncoil it-
self. He then managed to slip the noose over its head, and getting it well on to the body,
dragged the animal down. There was a great scuffle as the snake coiled round the chairs and
posts to resist his enemy, but at length the man caught hold of its tail, rushed out of the
house (running so quick that the creature seemed quite confounded), and tried to strike its
head against a tree. He missed however, and let go, and the snake got under a dead trunk
close by. It was again poked out, and again the Bouru man caught hold of its tail, and run-
ning away quickly dashed its head with a swing against a tree, and it was then easily killed
with a hatchet. It was about twelve feet long and very thick, capable of doing much mischief
and of swallowing a dog or a child.
