Page:The Boy Travellers in Australasia.djvu/386

362 "Fred's room was separated from mine by a thin partition. When Mr. Watson left us Fred remarked that he was quite ready for a good sleep, as he was very tired. As he spoke he turned down the bedclothes, and then shouted for me to come quick.

"'Here's a big snake in my bed!' said he. 'Come and help me kill him.'

"Mr. Watson heard the remark, and hastened back before I could get to where the snake was.

"'Don't harm that snake,' said he; 'it's a pet, and belongs to my brother. It's nothing but a carpet snake.'

"With that Fred cooled down, but said he didn't want any such pet in his bed, even if it was nothing but a carpet snake. The serpent, which was fully ten feet long, raised his head lazily, and then put it down again, as if he was quite satisfied with the situation and did not wish to be disturbed.

"Mr. Watson explained that the snake had no business there, and without more ado he picked the creature up by the neck and dragged it off to a barrel which he said was its proper place. After he had gone Fred and I put a board over the top of the barrel to make sure that the reptile did not give us a call during the night. Poverty is said to make one acquainted with strange bedfellows, but poverty can't surpass Australian bush life where a man finds a snake in his bed altogether too often for comfort.

"While we are on this subject," Frank continued, "we will have a word about the snakes of Australia. The carpet snake, to which we were so unceremoniously introduced, is the largest of the family, and is really harmless, so far as its bite is concerned, though it has powers of constriction that are not to be despised. It lives upon small game which it can easily swallow, and occasionally ventures upon a young wallaby or kangaroo. It may be kept as a pet, as you have seen; but as it can't sing, doesn't learn tricks, never undertakes to talk, and does nothing for the amusement or entertainment of its owner, I don't understand why anybody should want to pet it. But there's no accounting for tastes. It catches a few rats and other vermin, and occasionally creates havoc in the chicken-yard.

"There are five deadly serpents in Australia—the black snake, the brown snake, the tiger snake, the diamond snake, and the death-adder. The black and brown are most common, and the brown snake frequently reaches a length of nine feet. The most vicious and dangerous is the tiger snake, which seems to be allied to the cobra-de-capello of India, as,