Page:Pictures of life in Mexico Vol 2.djvu/145

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 Forest paths.—A narrow escape.—Mule killed by a serpent.—Snake-hunters and their implements.—A trophy of the chase.—Snake-hunter's song.

become quite careless and thoughtless on the subject of snakes I wandered through forests and brakes beside tufted rocks, and over trunks of fallen trees, just as if there were no such dreaded animals in existence; but chanced, however, about the time that the indifference resulting from long impunity had reached its height, to receive a very impressive reminder of the dangerous power of these reptiles.

Passing through a forest, in the vicinity of a small hamlet called Suera, in the tierra caliente, at an early hour in the morning, and finding it excessively hot, though the sun had not long risen, I was glad to loiter along a narrow path in the shade