Chapter V: Letter IV

Since you have expressed satisfaction with my imperfect account of some of the natural productions of the Nicobar islands, and desire me to continue the subject, I regret that I cannot gratify you with a sight of the lists I kept, of the different kinds of serpents, crabs, spiders, and other creatures, which I caught everywhere, either to stuff, put into spirits, or otherwise prepare for my customers. At our garden near Tranquebar, I had a shop or work-room purposely constructed for these operations, and kept sometimes two or three Malabar boys at work to help me. Of serpents and snakes I had a list of upwards of eighty different species, from the size of a common worm, to sixteen and twenty feet long; of crabs, upwards of ninety; and of spiders, more than forty. Whether I went into the woods, on the beach, by land, or by sea, I was accustomed to look about, and examine every object I saw, and acquired great facility in catching some of the most dangerous animals, without harm to myself. Far from being afraid of serpents, I went out purposely to discover their haunts, in the jungle or among the rocks, defending my legs with a pair of strong boots; and if I could prevent their slipping off into their holes, and irritate them so as to make them attempt to strike me, my work was done. For a serpent thus situated, will coil himself up, and instantaneously darting forward his head, strike and bite whatever comes in his way. I then presented my hat, which the animal violently seized with his fangs; when, instantly snatching it away, I seldom failed to extract them by the sudden jerk; for, being curved, they cannot be readily withdrawn, and sitting but loosely in the gums, are easily disengaged. Being thus rendered in a great degree harmless, I pinned their heads down, and tied them up. Great care, however, is required, not to suffer yourself to be lacerated by their teeth, or in any other way, while preparing their heads, and refixing the fangs; for if a wound is thus inflicted, even long after their death, the consequences are dreadful, and often fatal, of which I might relate many singular instances, which came immediately under my observation.

There is among them a short serpent, found in the neighbourhood of Tranquebar, and called by us, the _Split-snake_, (_die Spalt-schlange_). It is black, with a white streak down its back, dividing the body longitudinally. Its bite is extremely venomous; and being slender, it can insinuate itself into a very small hole or cranny, and will enter rooms and closets, in quest of food. There was a door in a dark part of my work-room, with a large clumsy lock to it; and one evening, as I was attempting to open it, having to pass that way, I felt a sudden prick in my finger, and at the same time a violent electrical shock, as if I were split asunder. Not thinking of a serpent, I first imagined, that my Malabar boys had, in their play, wound some wire about the handle, by which I had been hurt, and asked them sharply, what mischief they had done to the door. They denied, that they had meddled with it, and I made a second attempt, when I was attacked still more violently, and perceived the blood trickling down my finger. I then returned into my room, sucking the wound, till I could draw no more blood. I applied some spirits of turpentine to it, put on a bandage, and being much hurried that evening with other business, made no farther inquiry about it. However, in the night it swelled, and was very painful. In the morning, I went again into the work-room, when I thought I perceived an unpleasant, musky smell. On approaching the before-mentioned door, the stench was intolerable. I again asked the boys, what nasty thing they had brought into the room, for they were always at play; but they again denied any knowledge of the cause of the nuisance. A candle was brought, and I now beheld the origin of all the mischief. About six inches length of the head and body of a young split-snake hung out of the key-hole, quite dead; and on taking off the lock, I found the creature twisted into it, and so much wounded by the turn of the bolt, in attempting to open the door, that it had died in consequence. It had intended to enter the room through the key-hole, when I thus accidentally stopped its progress, and got bitten; and considering the deadly poison this serpent always infuses into the wound inflicted, I felt very thankful to God, my Preserver, that, by sucking the infected blood out of my finger in time, and applying a proper remedy, though ignorant of the cause of the wound, my life was not endangered. I have heard and believe, that the bite of every serpent is accompanied, more or less, by a sensation similar to an electrical shock, as the poison seems almost instantaneously to affect the whole mass of blood. We considered also the name of split-snake given to this animal, not so much as descriptive of its split appearance, as of the singular sensation its bite occasions, and which I then experienced.

Of other remarkable serpents I will only quote, the _Whip-snake_, which is green, from four to six feet long, slender, and springs horizontally, from tree to tree, whence it is also called the _Flying-snake_. The species, known by the name of the _Double-headed-snake_, has not two heads, but is equally thick before and behind; and, like some caterpillars, furnished with a kind of protuberance at its tail, which, to a superficial observer, may pass for another head. They are of a red colour, sluggish, and resemble a long sausage. The _Wall-snake_ climbs a wall with great agility, and is small and spotted. The bite of all these serpents is attended with great danger; indeed I believe there is not one of this class of animals that is not more or less venomous, though some in a very slight, and almost imperceptible degree. Their poison principally affects the blood, and is not hurtful to a sound skin. Yet I hardly ever cased one of the larger serpents for stuffing, but I turned sick with the extraordinary, musky, and loathsome smell of their flesh, though ever so fresh.

But I have detained you already too long with this unsavoury subject, and will, in my next, proceed to answer your inquiries concerning the habits and customs of the natives of the Nicobar islands.