frightful situation. He never afterwards, however, recovered the use
of his limb, which had sustained considerable injury from the fangs
and mere force of his jaws."

Ludolph states that enormous snakes exist in Ethiopia: and Bosman
informs us that entire men have been found in the gullet of serpents
on the Gold coast. In the "Oriental Annual" is the following
narrative, explanatory of a well-known picture by W. Daniell: "A few
years before our visit to Calcutta," says the writer, "the captain of
a country ship while passing the Sunderbunds sent a boat into one of
the creeks to obtain some fresh fruits, which are cultivated by the
few miserable inhabitants of this inhospitable region. Having reached
the shore the crew moored the boat under a bank, and left one of their
party to take care of her."

During their absence, the lascar who remained in charge of the boat,
overcome by heat, lay down under the seats and fell asleep. While he
was in this happy state of unconsciousness an enormous boa, python,
emerged from the jungle, reached the boat, had already coiled its huge
body round the sleeper, and was in the very act of crushing him to
death, when his companions fortunately returned at this auspicious
moment, and attacking the monster, severed a portion of its tail,
which so disabled it that it no longer retained the power of doing
mischief. The snake was then easily despatched, and was found to
measure, as stated, sixty-two feet and some inches in length. It is
hardly probable that the snake had fairly entwined round the man, for
the sudden compression of the chest, had the snake exerted its
strength, would have been instantly fatal.

In March, 1841, a singular circumstance occurred at the gardens of the