to preserve this monstrous
trophy as nearly as possible in the state in which it then was, but
that would have required a great quantity of arsenical soap, and I
was out of that chemical. So I made up my mind to dissect it, and
preserve the skeleton. I weighed it before detaching the ligaments;
its weight was four hundred and fifty pounds; its length, from the
nose to the first vertebrae, five feet six inches.

I found all my bullets, which had become flattened against the bones
of the jaws and palate as they would have done against a plate of
iron. The lance thrust which had slain the cayman was a chance--a sort
of miracle. When the Indian struck with his mace upon the but-end
of the pole, the iron pierced through the nape, into the vertebral
column, and penetrated the spinal marrow, the only vulnerable part.

When this formidable head was well prepared, and the bones dried and
whitened, I had the pleasure of presenting it to my friend Russell,
who has since deposited it in the museum at Boston, United States.

The other monster, of which I have promised a description, is the
boa-constrictor. The species is common in the Philippines, but it is
rare to meet with a specimen of very large dimensions. It is possible,
nay probable, that centuries of time are necessary for this reptile to
attain its largest size; and to such an age, the various accidents to
which animals are exposed, rarely suffer it to attain. Full-sized boas
are consequently to be met with only in the gloomiest, most remote,
and most solitary forests.

I have seen many boas of ordinary size, such as are found in our
European collections. There were some, indeed, that inhabited my
house, and one night I found one, two yards long, in possession of my
bed. Several times, when passing through the woods with my Indians,
I heard the piercing cries of a wild boar. On approaching the spot
whence they proceeded, we almost invariably found a wild boar, about
whose body a boa had twisted its folds, and was gradually hoisting
him up into the tree round which it had coiled itself.

When the wild boar had reached a certain height, the snake pressed
him against a tree with a force that crushed his bones and stifled
him. Then the boa let its prey fall, descended the tree, and prepared
to swallow it. This last operation was much too lengthy for us to
await its end. To simplify matters, I sent a ball into the boa's
head. My Indians took the flesh to dry it for food, an