346 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE.

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 un-
less 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 The Boa Constrictor is one of the largest of the
Constrictor. 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 quad-
rupeds. 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 ana An Englishman and an Indian, travelling to-

its Prey. gether 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