Page:Scented isles and coral gardens- Torres Straits, German New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies, by C.D. Mackellar, 1912.pdf/93

Rh preserved in his pocket-book as a souvenir of the day.

We had a magnificent sail back and arrived in good time, so all was well. Needless to say, the snake—which was christened “Captain Cook”—was the excitement of the ship. It was let loose on deck for a time, whilst a box was being made, and there measured. It was exactly ten feet long it its quiescent state, but, of course, stretched out to much more than that, and it was very thick. They are often much larger than this, but it was a particularly fine and powerful specimen. It appeared somewhat dazed, which is not surprising, as its experiences had been unusual. The stewards and sailors were most amusing about it. One steward insisted its “sting” was in the end of its tail! Then the ship's cat happened to come along, and instantly a scene began. The snake suddenly woke up and its eyes glittered, whilst its head kept turning to watch the cat. The latter approached gingerly, its back a magnificent arch, its tail as stiff as a ramrod and every hair on end. Then suddenly a sailor threw the cat right on the snake—it sprang a yard high in its fright! But it was fascinated and could not keep away. Again and again the sailors—who are such children at times―repeated this performance, which was really too funny, and the whole ship was yelling with laughter. The frantic leaps in the air of the cat were killing; it was so wary, but would come near, and it is long since I have seen such a comic scene. “Well, Mack,” I said, who would have thought that you and “I would hang on to that brute's tail as we did!” “Well, I'm blessed!” he said wonderingly, as he scratched his head. “Suppose it had let go and we had all gone over