cabin, and the sailors began to bring my baggage,
when first of all appeared the box containing the
python ! I shouted out to the cabin-boy that that
box must be left out on deck, and then, in a low tone,
explained to the captain that it contained an enormous
snake. “ Tin serpent f un serpent f ” he exclaimed,
raising up both hands in horror, in such an expressive
way as only a Frenchman can, and proceeding to declare
that he ought to have known that a passenger
who was a naturalist would be sure to fill the whole
ship with all sorts of venomous beasts. All the
others were little less startled, and shunned me . in the
half-lighted cabin, as if I were in league with evil
spirits, but I quieted their fears by ordering a sailor
to put the box into a large boat that was placed
right side up on the main deck and promising to kill
the great reptile to-morrow.
May 2Mh.—Early this morning we made sail,
and I concluded to let my troublesome specimen remain
until we were out of the harbor, but now, in
the changing of the monsoons, the winds are light
and baffling and we finally came to anchor once more;
and a sailor who got up into the boat said something
about “ le serpent.” I was on the quarter-deck at the
time, and determining at once not to be troubled
more with it, jumped down on the main-deck, ran
to the side of the boat, and seizing the box gave it
a toss into the sea, but just as it was leaving my
hands I thought to myself, “ How light it is ! ” and
the sailor said, “ Le serpent n ’est pas encore !—pas encore
! ” We all looked over the ship’s side and there
was the box floating quietly away, and it was evident
that the monster had escaped. Every one then asked,
“ Where is he ? ” but no one could tell. I assured
the captain that he was in the box when I put it on
the sampan to come off to the ship. “ Is he on
board % ” was the next question from the mouths of
all. We looked carefully in the boat and round the
deck, but could detect no trace of him whatever, and
all, except myself, came to the conclusion that he was
not brought on board, and then went back to their
work. The box in which he had been confined was
about a foot and a half long by a foot high and
a foot wide, and over the top were four or five
strips of board, each fastened at either end with a
single nail. On inquiring more closely, the sailor
told me that before I seized the box, the side with
the slats was one of the perpendicular sides, and had
not been placed uppermost, as it ought to have been.
“ Then,” I reasoned, “ he is here on board somewhere
beyond a doubt, and I brought him here, and it’s my
duty to find him and kill him.”
We had four horses on deck, and the middle of
the boat was filled with hay for them, and under
that it was probable the great reptile had crawled
away. In the bottom of the boat, aft, was a triangular
deck, and, as I climbed up a second time, I
noticed that the board which formed the apex of the
triangle was loose, and moved a little to one side.
Carefully raising this, I espied, to my horror, the
great python closely coiled away beneath, the place
being; so small that the loose board rested on one of
his coils. I wore a thin suit, a Chinese baju, or loose
blouse, a pair of canvas shoes, and a large sun-hat.