the family of snakes called boidae, including the boas and pythons are huge snakes confined to the hotter regions of the globe, and formidable from their vast strength and mode of attack. they lurk in ambush and dart upon their victim, which in an instant is seized and enveloped in their folds, and crushed to death or strangled. for their predatory habits they are admirably adapted; their teeth are terrible, and produce a dreadful wound; the neck is slender, the body increasing gradually to about the middle in diameter, and then decreasing. the tail is a grasping instrument, strongly prehensile, and aided by two hooklike claws, sheathed with horn, externally visible on each side, beneath, just anterior to the base of the tail. though externally nothing beyond these spurs appear, internally is found a series of bones, representing those of the hinder limbs, but of course imperfectly developed; yet they are acted upon by powerful muscles, and can be so used as to form a sort of antagonist to the tail while grasping any object; they thus become a fulcrum giving additional force to the grasp, which secured thereby to a fixed point, giving double power to the animal's energy.
the emperor boa, or boa constrictor as well as all the others to which the name boa applies are, according to cuvier, natives of america. the engraving represents one of these terrible snakes in the act of strangling a deer.
the aboma (boa cenchrea) has scaly plates on the muzzle, and pits or dimples upon the plates of the jaws.
endowed with powers which in a semicivilized state of society must operate powerfully on the mind; at ease and freedom alike on the land, in the water, or among the trees; at once wily, daring, and irresistible in their attack, graceful in their movements, and splendid in their coloring—that such creatures, to be both dreaded and admired, should become the subject of superstitious reverence, is scarcely to be wondered at. the ancient mexicans regarded the boa as sacred; they viewed its actions with religious horror; they crouched beneath the fiery glances of its eyes; they trembled as they listened to its long-drawn hiss, and from various signs and movements predicted the fate of tribes or individuals, or drew conclusions of guilt or innocence. the supreme idol was represented encircled and guarded by sculptured serpents, before which were offered human sacrifices.
"on a blue throne, with four huge silver snakes,
as if the keepers of the sanctuary,
circled, with stretching necks and fangs display'd,
mexitli sate: another graven snake
belted with scales of gold his monster bulk."
it is probably of the boa constrictor, the emperor, the devin, that hernandez writes, under the name of temacuilcahuilia, so called from its powers, the word meaning a fighter with five men. it attacks, he says, those it meets, and overpowers them with such force, that if it once coils itself around their necks it strangles and kills them, unless it bursts itself by the violence of its own efforts; and he states that the only way of avoiding the attack is for the man to manage in such a way as to oppose a tree to the animal's constriction, so that while the serpent supposes itself to be crushing the man, it may be torn asunder by its own act, and so die. we do not ask our readers for their implicit faith in this. he adds, that he has himself seen serpents as thick as a man's thigh, which had been taken young by the indians and tamed; they were provided with a cask strewn with litter in the place of a cavern, where they lived, and were for the most part quiescent, except at meal-times, when they came forth, and amicably climbed about the couch or shoulders of their master, who placidly bore the serpent's embrace. they often coiled tip in folds, equalling a large sized cartwheel in size, and harmlessly received their food.
in most accounts current respecting the mode in which boas and pythons take their food, the snake, after crushing its prey, is described as licking the body with its tongue and lubricating it with its saliva, in order to facilitate the act of deglutition. it has been observed with justice that few worse instruments for such a purpose than the slender dark forked tongue of these snakes could have been contrived: and that, in fact, the saliva does not begin to be poured out abundantly till required to lubricate the jaws and throat of the animal straining to engulph the carcass. we have seen these snakes take their food, but they did not lubricate it, though the vibratory tongue often touched it; we must, therefore, withhold our credence from the common assertion.
the size attained by the boa is often very great, and larger individuals than any now seen occurred formerly, before their ancient haunts had been invaded by human colonization.
the anaconda, (boa scytale), called by linnaeus, boa murina, and by prince maximilian, boa aquatica, is of an enormous size, from twenty to thirty feet in length.
the boa cenchrea has scaly plates on the the muzzle; and dimples upon the plates at the sides of the jaws. his color is yellowish, with a row of large brown rings running the whole length of the back, and variable spots on the sides. these are generally dark, often containing a whitish semi-lunar mark. this species, according to seba, who describes it as mexican, is the temacuilcahuilia (or tamacuilla huilia, as seba writes the word) described by hernandez. the species here described, according to cuvier, grow nearly to the same size, and haunt the marshy parts of south america. there, adhering by the tail to some aquatic tree, they suffer the anterior part of the body to float upon the water, and patiently wait to seize upon the quadrupeds which come to drink.
our engraving represents him in the attitude of watching for a deer which is seen, in the distance.
a specimen apparently of the boa scytale called in venezuela "la culebra de agua," or water serpent, and also "el traga venado," or deer-swallower, which measures nineteen feet and a half in length, was presented by sir robert ker porter to the united service museum. he states that "the flesh of this serpent is white and abundant in fat. the people of the plains never eat it, but make use of the fat as a remedy for rheumatic pains, ruptures, strains, &c."
"this serpent," says sir b. k. porter, "is not venomous nor known to injure man (at least not in this part of the new world;) however, the natives stand in great fear of it, never bathing in waters where it is known to exist. its common haunt, or rather domicile, is invariably near lakes, swamps, and rivers; likewise close wet ravines produced by inundations of the periodical rains: hence, from its aquatic habits, its first appellation. fish and those animals which repair there to drink, are the objects of its prey. the creature lurks watchfully under cover of the water, and, whilst the unsuspecting animal is drinking, suddenly makes a dash at the nose, and with a grip of its back-raclining double range of teeth never fails to secure the terrified beast beyond the power of escape."
it would appear that boas are apt to be carried out to sea by sudden floods, and are sometimes drifted alive on distant coasts. the rev. lansdown guilding, writing in the island of st. vincent, says, "a noble specimen of the boa constrictor was lately conveyed to us by the currents, twisted round the trunk of a large sound cedar tree, which had probably been washed out of the bank, by the floods of some great south american river, while its huge folds hang on the branches as it waited for its prey. the monster was fortunately destroyed after killing a few sheep, and his skeleton now hangs before me in my study, putting me in mind how much reason i might have had to fear in my future rambles through st. vincent, had this formidable animal been a pregnant female and escaped to a safe retreat."
the pythons closely resemble the true boas, but have the subcaudal plates double; the muzzle is sheathed with plates, and those covering the mouth of the jaws have pits. these snakes, which equal or exceed the boas in magnitude, are natives of india, africa, and australia.
pliny speaks of snakes in india of such a size as to be capable of swallowing stags and bulls; and valerius maximus, quoting a lost portion of pliny's work, narrates the alarm into which the troops under regulus were thrown by a serpent which had its lair on the banks of the river bagradas, between utica and carthage, and which intercepted the passage to the river. it resisted ordinary weapons, and killed many of the men; till at last it was destroyed by heavy stones thrown from military engines used in battering walls; its length is stated as a hundred and twenty feet. regulus carried its skin and jaws to rome, and deposited them in one of the temples, where they remained till the time of the numantine war.
diodorus siculus relates the account of the capture of a serpent, not without loss of life, in egypt, which measured thirty cubits long; it was taken to alexandria. suetonius speaks of a serpent exhibited at rome in front of the comitium, fifty cubits in length.
though we do not refuse credit to these narratives, it must be added that in modern days we have not seen serpents of such magnitude; yet they may exist. bontius observes that some of the indian pythons exceed thirty-six feet in length, and says that they swallow wild boars, adding, "there are those alive who partook with general peter both, of a recently swallowed hog cut out of the belly of a serpent of this kind."
these snakes, he observes, are not poisonous, but strangle a man or other animal by powerful compression. the ular sawa, or great python of the sunda isles, is said to exceed when full-grown, thirty feet in length; and it is narrated that a "malay prow being anchored for the night under the island of celebes, one of the crew went ashore, in search of betel nut, and, as was supposed, fell asleep on the beach, on his return. in the dead of night, his companions on board were aroused by dreadful screams; they immediately went ashore, but they came too late, the cries had ceased—the man had breathed his last in the folds of an enormous serpent, which they killed. they cut off the head of the snake and carried it, together with the lifeless body of their comrade, to the vessel; the right wrists of the corpse bore the marks of the serpent's teeth, and the disfigured body showed that the man had been crushed by the constriction of the reptile round the head, neck, breast, and thigh."
mr. mcleod, in his voyage of h.m.s. alceste, after describing the mode in which a python on board, sixteen feet in length, crushed and gorged a goat, the distressing cries of which on being introduced into the serpent's cage, could not but excite compassion, goes on to say that during a captivity of some months at whidah, in the kingdom of dahomey, on the coast of africa, he had opportunities of observing pythons of more than double that size, and which were capable of swallowing animals much larger that goats or sheep. "governor abson," he adds, "who had for thirty-seven years resided at fort william, one of the african company's settlements there, describes some desperate struggles which he had seen, or which had come to his knowledge, between the snakes and wild beasts as well as the smaller cattle, in which the former were always victorious. a negro herdsman belonging to mr. abson, and who afterwards limped for many years about the fort, had been seized by one of these monsters by the thigh; but from his situation in a wood the serpent in attempting to throw himself around him got entangled in a tree; and the man being thus preserved from a state of compression, which would instantly have rendered him quite powerless, had presence of mind enough to cut with a large knife which he carried about with him, deep gashes in the neck and throat of his antagonist, thereby killing him, and disengaging himself from his frightful situation. he never afterwards, however, recovered the use of his limb, which had sustained considerable injury from the fangs and mere force of his jaws."
ludolph states that enormous snakes exist in ethiopia: and bosman informs us that entire men have been found in the gullet of serpents on the gold coast. in the "oriental annual" is the following narrative, explanatory of a well-known picture by w. daniell: "a few years before our visit to calcutta," says the writer, "the captain of a country ship while passing the sunderbunds sent a boat into one of the creeks to obtain some fresh fruits, which are cultivated by the few miserable inhabitants of this inhospitable region. having reached the shore the crew moored the boat under a bank, and left one of their party to take care of her."
during their absence, the lascar who remained in charge of the boat, overcome by heat, lay down under the seats and fell asleep. while he was in this happy state of unconsciousness an enormous boa, python, emerged from the jungle, reached the boat, had already coiled its huge body round the sleeper, and was in the very act of crushing him to death, when his companions fortunately returned at this auspicious moment, and attacking the monster, severed a portion of its tail, which so disabled it that it no longer retained the power of doing mischief. the snake was then easily despatched, and was found to measure, as stated, sixty-two feet and some inches in length. it is hardly probable that the snake had fairly entwined round the man, for the sudden compression of the chest, had the snake exerted its strength, would have been instantly fatal.
in march, 1841, a singular circumstance occurred at the gardens of the zoological society, which at the time caused no little surprise. a python, eleven or twelve feet long, and one about nine feet long, were kept together in a well-secured cage; both had been fed one evening, the larger one with three guinea pigs and a rabbit; but, as it would appear, his appetite was unsatiated. the next morning, when the keeper came to look into the cage, the smaller python was missing—its escape was impossible—and the question was what had become of it?
the truth was evident—its larger companion had swallowed it. there it lay torpid, and bloated to double its ordinary dimensions. how it accomplished the act is not known, but we may imagine a fearful struggle to have taken place, as wreathing round each other they battled for the mastery; unless, indeed, the victim was itself torpid and incapable of resistance.
the tiger python, (python, tigris), is a native of india and java, and is often brought over to england for exhibition. it was, we believe, from one of these species that mr. cops, the keeper of the lion office was in imminent danger, as narrated by mr. broderip.
the animal was near shedding its skin, and consequently nearly blind, for the skin of the eye, which is shed with the rest of the slough, becomes then opaque, when mr. cops, wishing it to feed, held a fowl to its head. the snake darted at the bird, but missed it, seizing the keeper by the left thumb, and coiled round his arm and neck in a moment. mr. cops, who was alone, did not lose his presence of mind, and immediately attempted to relieve himself of the powerful constriction by getting at the snake's head. but the serpent had so knotted himself on his own head, that mr. cops could not reach it, and had thrown himself on the floor in order to grapple with a better chance of success, when two other keepers coming in broke the teeth of the serpent, and with some difficulty relieved mr. cops from his perilous situation. two broken teeth were extracted from the thumb, which soon healed, and no material inconvenience was the result of this frightful adventure.
mr. cumming, to whose exploits we have so frequently referred, gives the following account of a day's adventures, one of which was an amusing affair with a large python.
on the 26th, i rose at earliest dawn to inspect the heads of the three old buffaloes, they were all enormous old bulls, and one of them carried a most splendid head. the lions had cleaned out all his entrails; their spoor [footnote: spoor, i.e., track] was immense. having taken some buffalo breast and liver for breakfast, i despatched ruyter to the wagons to call the natives to remove the carcasses, while i and kleinboy held through the hills to see what game might be in the next glen which contained water. on my way thither, we started a fine old buck koodoo, which i shot, putting both barrels into him at one hundred yards. as i was examining the spoor of the game by the fountain, i suddenly detected an enormous old rock-snake stealing in beside a mass of rock beside me. he was truly an enormous snake, and, having never before dealt with this species of game, i did not exactly know how to set about capturing him. being very anxious to preserve his skin entire, and not wishing to have recourse to my rifle, i cut a stout and tough stick about eight feet long, and having lightened myself of my shooting-belt, i commenced the attack. seizing him by the tail, i tried to get him out of his place of refuge; but i hauled in vain; he only drew his large folds firmer together; i could not move him. at length i got a rheim round one of his folds about the middle of his body, and kleinboy and i commenced hauling away in good earnest.
the snake, finding the ground too hot for him, relaxed his coils, and, suddenly bringing round his head to the front, he sprang out at us like an arrow, with his immense and hideous mouth opened to its largest dimensions, and before i could get out of the way he was clean out of his hole, and made a second spring, throwing himself forward about eight or ten feet, and snapping his horrid fangs within a foot of my legs. i sprang out of his way, and, getting hold of the green bough i had cut, returned to the charge. the snake was now gliding along at top speed: he knew the ground well, and was making for a mass of broken rocks, where he would have been beyond my reach, but before he could gain this place of refuge i caught him two or three tremendous whacks on the head. he, however, held on, and gained a pool of muddy water, which he was rapidly crossing, when i again belabored him, and at length reduced his pace to a stand. we then hanged him by the neck to a bough of a tree, and in about fifteen minutes he seemed dead, but he again became very troublesome during the operation of skinning, twisting his body in all manner of ways. this serpent measured fourteen feet.
