gerous than any other in India; the body is long and slender, very much in size like the thong of a chaise whip, from which I suppose it derives its name. This snake frequents the trees, and, fixing its tail round a branch, will dart forward its whole length to seize any object that may, unconscious of the danger, pass below it. One evening, whilst walking beneath a small mangoe tope, I felt a smart rap upon the crown of my hat, and looking up, saw one of these reptiles darting from the bough just above my head: with great difficulty I managed to destroy it; but not before I had sent for my gun, and shot at it several times. I was very much alarmed one day, on entering an out-office belonging to my friend Mr. Davis, to find that I had shut myself in with a very large snake, which immediately announced its presence by a tremendous hissing. Raising itself full five feet upon its tail, it seemed to bid defiance. I was almost paralyzed-expecting an attack every moment!-Possessing nothing wherewith to defend myself, I looked upward for help, and was providentially saved, for having turned my head round to see if the door was a-jar or not, in that moment the snake with a terrible bound cleared a small window or loop-hole, full six feet from the ground, quite as much to my delight as to its own, however great that might be, There are a great many species of the water snake, and some of them very large, and others very beautiful: they prey upon the small fish in F the tanks, as well as on the frogs and other inhabitants of the stagnant pools, with which in some parts of the year the paddy fields abound. I have often been surprised at the dexterity with which a small species of the water-snake catches its prey. Leaving the tank, or pool, it cautiously glides along the bank to the opposite side, where a number of small fish are sporting on the surface, when suddenly pouncing upon them, it generally succeeds in making sure of one. With neck erect, about five or six inches out of the water, it will pursue them in shallow water until a good opportunity presents itself, when making a dive, it proudly rises with a small fish in its mouth, which is then taken to the bank and there swallowed. Their capacity for swallowing is great indeed. I have taken a large frog from the throat of a small snake. When a frog is seized by one of them, it utters the most piteous cries, which continue for some time, as the swallowing is a tedious process. My young gentlemen have often exclaimed, "Hark! there is a frog captured-let us go and set the poor fellow free;" and, directed by the cry, have literally delivered many from the jaws of death, as the snake, whilst gorging its victim, is itself an easy prey. In the Morung forests, and parts adjacent, from whence the saul timber, so much used in building, is brought, a very large and indolent snake is found. I saw one brought to Calcutta from thence; it measured about twenty feet long, and was very thick. I believe it measured, in the largest part, nearly two feet round. This species is very different from the boa constrictor, possessing neither its agility nor flexibility: it will swallow large animals, preparing them first by its saliva. The colour is yellow and brown, very prettily streaked and chequered. Mr. B., who had seen many of them, told me that his men, who were employed in cutting timber in the forests, had killed them so large that one made a good load for a hackery to bring out. In travelling up the river in the native boats, one is subject to great annoyance from snakes, as they often hide in the thatch. One evening I had lain down for the night, and was merely covered with a pallampore or chintz counterpane, when a good sized snake dropped from the thatched roof just on my body: flinging the covering over it, I sprang up in an instant, giving at the same time a shriek that alarmed the whole boat's crew. Laying hold of a billet of wood, I beat the pallampore most fiercely, and killed the snake before it could escape from the folds. It was not a water snake, but one of those which are called by Europeans, Bengal vipers. All the land snakes will take water at times, to cross to different places which they know. The largest copracapella I ever killed was crossing a river at the time; its body was circularly folded upon the top of the water, with its head elevated about six inches: in this manner it was sailing to the opposite shore, when my boat passed within about twenty yards of it. As it happened, I was prepared for the rencounter, having a loaded gun in my hand, with which I had been trying to kill or drive away some voracious kites that very much annoyed the cook. I fired at it, when it sprang some distance out of the water, and after writhing for a short time became quite motionless, and floated down the stream. This snake had a larger hood than any I ever saw. CHAPTER VI. "The grave Hindoo, The gay Mussulman, and the sour Malay, DOTES-WAITING AT THE GATES-CURIOUS PETITION -MODES OF BUILDING-ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE. THE Mussulman part of the community is in much the same state of degrading superstition as the Hindoo, although not quite so much tyrannized over by the priests. The Moulahs, Imans, and Moonshees, do not meet with half the reverence, or reap any thing like the pecuniary revenues from the Mussulmans, that the Brahmins do from the Hindoos; neither are the Mussulmans so punctual in the observance of the rites and ceremonies |