Page:Athletics and Manly Sport (1890).djvu/499

436 beautiful blossoms. This snake is a direful pest; from his size and color he is not easily seen; and his poison is said to resemble the rattle-snake's.

The water moccasin is a venomous snake, and it is surprising, considering his countless presence in the swamp, that so few people are bitten. This reptile literally infests all quarters of the swamp. Other snakes, more or less numerous, are the black snake (sometimes nine feet long), the horned snake, and the jointed snake. Abeham and Jim said that they had often killed this latter questionable reptile, and that it had "broken into pieces about two and a half inches long."

In case of snake bites the unvarying practice of the "swampers" is to bind the limb above the wound tightly, twisting a stick in the ligature, then suck the wound thoroughly, and afterward drink copiously of whiskey. They say that this treatment invariably cures all bites in the swamp, excepting the rattler's. But we only met three or four persons who had known of actual snake bites.

One quality of the moccasin is interesting and worthy of record, his curiosity. These snakes escape rapidly on the approach of a man, but will often return to the place they left to take a look at him. We had a singular instance of this inquisitiveness. One day, on our way round the