184 WITAT WAS IN THE LOCK.

On approaching the same door the stench was in-
tolerable, and again I asked the boys the cause of
the nuisance; but they persisted in declaring their
ignorance concerning the matter. A candle was
brought, and I now beheld the origin of all the
mischief. About six inches length of the head and
body of a young split snake hung out of the key-
hole, quite dead; and on taking off the lock, I found
the creature twisted intoit. It had evidently in-
tended to enter the room through the keyhole when
I thus accidentally stopped its progress and got
bitten ; and considering the deadly poison this ser-
pent injects into the wound it inflicts, I felt very
thankful to God, my Preserver, that, by sucking
the infected blood out of my finger in time, and
applying a proper remedy, though ignorant of the
cause of the wound, my life was not endangered.

‘‘ Another kind of serpent struck me as a singular
species; itis of a green colour, has a broad head
and mouth like a frog, very red eyes, and its bite is
so venomous that I have seen a woman die within
half an hour after being wounded. Of other re-
markable kinds I will only mention the IWhip-
snake, which is green, from 4 to 6 feet long, slender,
and springs horizontally from tree to tree, whence
it 1s also called Flying Snake. The species known
by the name of the Double-headed Snake lvas not
two heads, but is equally thick behind and before,