as we had seen along the River Arinos were now
to be seen all along the banks of the river. We saw in the water not far
from us a large _sucuriu_ snake (_Eunictes murinus_), fully 6 in. in
diameter. It peeped its head out of the water to gaze curiously into our
canoe, and caused some excitement among my men.

Another immense barrier of rocks with most troublesome rapids extended
from south-west to north-east right across the stream. That seemed a
great place for snakes, especially in the narrow and tortuous channel
which we followed, between a great island--Victor Emmanuel Island--and
the left bank. We were going along fairly gaily when I saw a huge
snake--another _sucuriu_--floating upon the water among the foliage and
branches of a fallen tree. The section of the body which I could perceive
measured fully 21/2 ft. in diameter, and I must say that for one moment--we
were only about 20 ft. away from it--I was somewhat surprised, as my
quickly calculating mind constructed in my imagination a snake at least
100 ft. long. My men immediately took to their rifles, and were about to
open a fusillade, but I stopped them, not caring to disturb the sleep of
so gigantic a reptile. It was with some relief that, as the canoe floated
quietly a little farther, I perceived the head of the snake resting
gracefully in a sound slumber upon a branch of the tree out of the water.
The head was of more normal proportions. We landed a little distance away
as quietly as possible, my men trembling all over with excitement and
fear in case the reptile should wake up. Then all together they opened a
fusillade until a bullet actually struck the snake and it wriggled about.
There was a stampede of all my men through the foliage and plants which
grew along the stream. The snake was dead. When they had made quite sure
that life was extinct my men returned and pulled the snake out of the
water. Although the section we had seen floating was so big, the rest of
the body was not more than 4 in. in diameter. The snake had eaten an
entire _veado_ (deer), and that was the cause of the great swelling of
the central part of its body. The shape of the devoured animal could be
seen plainly inside it. The photograph of the reptile which I took is
given in one of the illustrations of this book. The light was not good
for photographic purposes, as it was late in the afternoon and the snake,
which after all was only 18 ft. 5 in. long, lay under the shadow of the
fol