f resistance he needed. The nooses
were strong, and withstood his almost furious efforts.

To convey an animal like this, several buffaloes and a whole system
of cordage were necessary. Night approached; confident in our nooses,
we left the place, proposing to return next morning and complete
the capture; but we reckoned without our host. In the night the
boa changed his tactics, got his body round some huge blocks of
basalt, and finally succeeded in breaking his bonds and getting
clear off. When I had assured myself that our prey had escaped us,
and that all search for the reptile in the neighbourhood would be
futile, my disappointment was very great, for I much doubted if a like
opportunity would ever present itself. It is only on rare occasions
that accidents are caused by these enormous reptiles. I once knew of
a man becoming their victim. It happened thus:--

This man having committed some offence, ran away, and sought refuge
in a cavern. His father, who alone knew the place of his concealment,
visited him occasionally to supply him with food. One day he found,
in place of his son, an enormous boa sleeping. He killed it, and
found his son in its stomach. The poor wretch had been surprised
in the night, crushed to death, and swallowed. The curate of the
village, who had gone in quest of the body to give it burial, and
who saw the remains of the boa, described them to me as being of
an almost incredible size. Unfortunately this circumstance happened
at a considerable distance from my habitation, and I was only made
acquainted with the particulars when it was too late to verify them
myself: but still there is nothing surprising that a boa which can
swallow a deer should as easily swallow a man. Several other feats of
a similar nature were related to me by the Indians. They told me of
their comrades, who, roaming about the woods, had been seized by boas,
crushed against trees, and afterwards devoured; but I was always on my
guard against Indian tales, and I am only able to verify positively the
instance, I have just cited, which was related to me by the curate of
the village, as well as by many other witnesses. Still there would be
nothing surprising that a similar accident should occur more than once.

The boa is one of the serpents the least to be feared among those
infesting the Philippines. Of an exceedingly venomous description is
one which the Indians call dajon-palay, (rice leaf). Burning with
a red-hot ember