Michalis says, Quest. lxxxiii. speaking of such serpents, “ Although modern naturalists have not communicated any satisfactory information respecting flying serpents, yet they are so often spoken of by the ancient writers of nations near to the equator, who may be better acquainted with the nature of serpents than we are, that I dare boldly recommend further inquiries to travellers, respecting the existence of flying serpents. If there be any, and if they have been seen by witnesses deserving of credit, I beg every information, name, &c." This inquiry is interesting; and though we are unable to affirm, that serpents, flying by means of wings, inhabit those countries to which Scripture more particularly refers, yet if they exist now in any country, it will be so much in proof of the possibility, that they formerly might exist in other countries.

Barbot, after mentioning serpents on the coast of Guinea thirty feet long, as the blacks assured him, says, "They also told me, there are winged serpents or dragons, having a forked tail, and a prodigious wide mouth, full of sharp teeth; extremely mischievous to mankind, more particularly to small children. If we may credit this account of the blacks, these are of the same sort of winged serpents, which some authors assure us, are to be found in Abyssinia, being very great enemies to the elephants. Barbot, in Churchill, vol. v. p. 213.

"In the woods of Java are certain flying snakes, or rather drakes, [drakos] they have four legs, a long tail, and their skins speckled with many spots; their wings are not unlike those of a bat, which they move in flying, but otherwise keep them almost unperceived close to the body. They fly nimble, but cannot hold it long, so that they fly from tree to tree, at about twenty or thirty paces distance. On the outside of the throat are two bladders, which being extended when they fly, serve them instead of a sail. They feed on flies and other insects. The Javanesses do not in the least account them poisonous, but handle them just like common snakes, without the least danger," Nieuhoff in Churchill, vol. ii. p. 296. [These are flying lizards, not serpents.]

Niebuhr says, "There are at Bazra a sort of serpents called heie sursurie, or heie thiâre. They commonly keep on the date trees; and as it would be troublesome to them to come down a high tree, and creep up another, they hang by the tail to a branch of one tree, and by swinging that about, take advantage of its motion to leap to a second. These the modern Arabs call flying serpents, heie thiâre. I do not know whether the ancient Arabs saw any other kind of flying serpent. Some Europeans from Bombay assured me, that they had scen serpents with two heads; and others with two feet," [which is certainly true.] Then he alludes to Anson's Voyage in further proof.

The words in Anson's Voyage are, "The Spaniards too, informed us, that there was often found in the woods a most mischievous serpent, called the flying snake; which, they said, darted itself from the boughs of trees, on either man or beast that came within its reach, and whose sting they believed to be inevitable death," p. 308. Svo. The reader will observe, this is report.

To conclude by returning to the dragon:

The following is the latest, and most distinct account of one of these large serpents which I have been able to procure: 1 hope no apology is necessary for alluding to an inhabitant of South America; I have been extremely jealous on such excursions. It combines several particulars which coincide with our purpose, though it differs certainly from the red dragon of Asia or Africa.

"We had not gone above twenty yards through mud and water, the negro looking every way with an uncommon degree of vivacity and attention; when, starting behind me, he called out, "Me see snake!" and in effect, there lay the animal, rolled up under the falling leaves and rubbish of the trees; and so well covered, that it was some time before I distinctly perceived the head of this monster, distant from me not above sixteen feet, moving its forked tongue, while its eyes, from their uncommon brightness, appeared to emit sparks of fire. I now, resting my piece upon a branch, for the purpose of taking a sure aim, fired ; but missing the head, the ball went through the body, when the animal struck round, and with such astonishing force as to cut away all the underwood around him with the facility of a scythe mowing grass; and by flouncing his tail, caused the mud and dirt to fly over our heads to a considerable distance. Of this proceeding however we were not torpid spectators, but took to our heels, and crowded into the canoe. . . I now found the snake a little removed from his former station, but very quiet, with his head as before, lying out among the fallen leaves, rotten bark, and old moss. I fired at it immediately, but with no better success than the other time: and now, being but slightly wounded, he sent up such a cloud of dust and dirt, as I never saw but in a whirlwind, and made us once more suddenly retreat . . . Having once more discovered the snake, we discharged both our pieces at once, and with this good effect, that he was now by one of us shot through the head. David, who was made completely happy by this successful conclusion, ran leaping with joy, and lost no time in bringing the boat rope, in order to drag him down to the canoe; but this again proved not a very easy undertaking, since the creature, notwithstanding its being mortally wounded. still continued to writhe and twist about, in such a

manner as rendered it dangerous for any person to approach him. The negro, however, having made a running noose on the rope, after some fruitless attempts to make an approach, threw it over his head with much dexterity; and now, all taking hold of the rope, we dragged him to the beach, and tied him to the stern of the canoe, to take him in tow. Being still alive, he kept swimming like an eel; and I having no relish for such a shipmate on board, whose length, notwithstanding, to my astonishment, all the negroes declared it to be but a young one come to about half its growth, I found upon measuring it to be twentytwo feet and some inches; and its thickness about that of my black boy Quaco, who might then be about twelve years old, and round whose waist I since measured the creature's skin.

The negro David having climbed up a tree with the end of the rope, let it down over a strong forked bough, and the other negroes hoisted up the snake, and suspended him from the tree. This done, David, with a sharp knife between his teeth, now left the tree, and clung fast upon the monster, which was still twisting, and began his operations by ripping it up, and stripping down the skin as he descended. Though I perceived that the animal was no longer able to do him any injury, I confess I could not without emotion see a man stark naked, black and bloody, clinging with arms and legs round the slimy and yet living monster. This labour, however, was not without its use, since he not only dexterously finished the operation, but provided me, besides the skin, with above four gallons of fine clarified fat, or rather oil though there was wasted perhaps as much more. When I signified my surprise to see the snake still living, after he was deprived of his intestines and skin, Carmaco, the old negro, whether from experience or tradition, assured me he would not die till after sunset.

oma.

This wonderful creature in the Colony of Surinam is called AbIts length, when full grown, is said to be sometimes forty feet, and more than four feet in circumference; its colour is a greenish black on the back; a fine brownish yellow on the sides, and a dirty white under the belly; the back and sides being spotted with irregular black rings, with a pure white in the middle. Its head is broad and flat,,small in proportion to the body, with a large mouth, and a double row of teeth; it has two bright prominent eyes: is covered all over with scales, some about the size of a shilling; and under the body, near the tail, armed with two strong claws like cockspurs, to help it in seizing its prey. It is an amphibious animal, that is, it delights in low and marshy places, where it lies coiled up like a rope, and concealed under moss, rotten timber, and dried leaves, to seize its prey by surprise, which from its immense bulk it is not active enough to

pursue. When hungry, it will devour any animal, that comes within its reach, and is indifferent whether it is a sloth, a wild boar, a stag, or even a tiger; round which having twisted itself by the help of its claws, so that the creature cannot escape, it breaks, by its irresistible force, every bone in the animal's body, which it then covers over with a kind of slime or slaver from its mouth, to make it slide; and at last gradually sucks it in, till it disappears; after this, the aboma cannot shift its situation, on account of the great knob or knot which the swallowed prey occasions in that part of the body where it rests, till it is digested; for till then it would hinder the snake from sliding along the ground. During that time the aboma wants no other subsistence. I have been told of negroes being devoured by this animal, and am disposed to credit the account; for should they chance to come within its reach when hungry, it would as certainly seize them as any other animal. The bite of this snake is said not to be venomous; nor do I believe it bites at all from any other impulse than hunger," Stedman's Expedition to Surinam, vol. i. p. 170.

OF THE CERASTES, AND SIMILAR SERPENTS.

The cerastes, or horned viper, is among the most fatal of the serpent tribe. It is, moreover, well distinguished from all others, by the peculiarity of its horns; and it is abundant in Egypt and in Syria, so that it could not escape the notice and allusions of the sacred writers. I believe it is agreed, on all hands, that this serpent is mentioned in scripture; but the difficulty is to determine which of the Hebrew appellations of serpents describes. this species especially.

Mr. Bruce has favoured us with a figure of this creature, and with a considerable account of its manners, part of which we shall extract. He says, He says, "there is no article of natural history the ancients have dwelt on more than that of the viper, whether poets, physicians, or historians. All have enlarged upon the particular sizes, colours, and qualities, yet the knowledge of their manners is but little extended.

"I have travelled across the Cyrenaicum in all its directions, and never saw but one species of viper, which was the cerastes, or horned viper, now before us; neither did I ever see any of the snake kind that could be mistaken for the viper.

"The basilisk is a species of serpent, frequently made mention of in Scripture, though never described, further than that he cannot be charmed so as to do no hurt, nor trained so as to delight in music; which all travellers who have been in Egypt know is exceeding possible, and frequently seen. "For behold I will

send basilisks among you," saith the Scripture," which will not be charmed; and they shall bite you, saith the Lord." [Jer. viii. 17.] And [Psalm ix. 13.] "Thou shalt tread upon the lion and basilisk," &c. It is to be observed here, it is the Greek text that calls it basilisk: the Hebrew, for the most part, calls it tsepha, which are a species of serpents real and known. Our English translation, very improperly, renders it cockatrice, a fabulous animal, that never did exist. I shall only further observe, that the basilisk, in Scripture, would seem to be a snake, not a viper, as there are frequent mention made of their eggs, as in Isai. Ixix. 4. whereas it is known to be the characteristic of the viper to bring orth living young.

"I shall mention one name more, under which the cerastes goes, because it is equivocal, and has been misunderstood in Scripture; that is tseboa, which name is given it in Hebrew from its different colours and spots. And hence the Greeks, [Elian, Hist. lib. i. cap. 25; Horia. Hieroglyph. lib. ii. chap. 65,] have called it by the name of hyæna, because it is of the same reddish colour, marked with black spots, as that quadruped is. And the same fable is applied to the serpent and the quadruped, that they change their sex yearly.

"The cerastes is mentioned by name in Lucan, and without warranting the separate existence of any of the rest, I can see several that are but the cerastes under another term. The thebanus ophites, the ammodytes, the torida dipsas, and the prester [Lucan, lib. ix.] all of them are but this viper described from the form of its parts, or its colours. The cerastesides itself all day in holes in the sand, where it lives contiguous and similar houses to those of the jerboa; and I have already said, that I never but once found any animal in this viper's belly, but one jerboa, in a gravid female cerastes.

"I kept two of these last mentioned creatures in a glass jar, such as is used for keeping sweatmeats, for two years, without having given them any food: they did not sleep, that I observed, in winter, but cast their skins the last days of April.

"The cerastes moves with great rapidity, and in all directions, forward, backward, and sideways. When he inclines to surprise any one who is too far from him, he creeps with his side toward the person, and his head averted, till judging his distance, he turns round, springs upon him, and fastens upon the part next to him; for it is not true what is said, that the cerastes does not leap or spring. I saw one of them at Cairo, in the house of Julian and Rosa, crawl up the side of a box, in which there were many, and there lie still as if hiding himself, till one of the people who brought them to us came near him, and, though in a very disadvantageous posturē, sticking, as it were, perpendicular to