Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/238

* BOA. 208 BOABDIL. vertically and horizontally. While the process of digestion is going on, for which weeks may be necessary, the boa remains in a state of torpid- ity, and then is easily killed. The boas are afflicted with many and at times fatal intestinal worms, received from (lie bodies of their victims. Excepting such adversaries, the larger of these powerful serpents have almost nothing to fear. The name Boa-const rictar properly belongs to one of the smaller of the boas, 12 feet long, which is most abundant in Guiana and Brazil. It is an exceedingly handsome serpent, brownish, with a series of complicated and connected blotchings. (See accompanying plate.) The em- peror {Boa impcrator) of Central America and Mexico resembles it, but has the markings sepa- rated by light lines along the sides. A third allied species is the lauianda, to which a sort of worship was paid by the ancient Central Ameri- cans, named Boa diviniloqiiax, of which the Mexi- can boa (var. Mexicana) is a northerly form. A fourth, and probably the best-known, species, is the ringed boa {Epicrutes cenchria), which is found all over Brazil, but nowhere numerously, and northward to Costa Rica; it is about 5 feet long, and is marked with circular or 8- shaped spots, having a dark border. This is one of the species called aboma and jibova — Brazilian terms which, like 'boiguacu' and some others that have found currency in books, are very in- definite. The genus Epierates embraces the 'tree-boas,' most of which are slender snakes of moderate length, having distinct necks and some- what triangular heads, which obtain their food in trees and bushes, or by hanging from branches and striking passing prey; they have the singu- lar faculty of clinging firmly to the upper sur- face of a leafy brancli without curling any part of the body aroimd it. and no amount of wind- waving or other agitation will loosen the hold of their looped length short of complete over- turning. The swiftness of their stroke is too great to follow with the eyes. Another genus is often represented in menageries by the dog- headed boa (Xiphosoma caniniim) of the Amazon region. It often exceeds ;> feet in length .and is green above and bright yellowbeneath. ornamented with clustered white spots edged with purplish black. The sand-snakes (f.'n/ji), the Californian lichanuras, and various other generic forms also belong to the Boa family. The greatest of all the boas is the water-boa {Euiiecfcs muriniis), best known as the anacon- da. Although the I'.ome of this huge serpent is wholly within the valleys of the Amazon and Ori- noco, the name was borrowed from tlic Portuguese name of a Ceyhmese p>-thon, and fixed by Cuvier in 181"; its most widespread Brazilian name is 'sucuriuba,' or sim])ly 'sueuria.' It is far more aquatic in its habits than any other big Ameri- can snake, sp<'nding a large part of the time in the water, to which its structvire is adapted, the nostrils being very small, placed vertically in the top of the heavily scaled nose, and closable by valves. Thus it can swim safely under water, and need only push the merest point of its head above the surface in order to take breath. Its eyes, also, are elevated, prominent, and so placed that it can see both ahead and downward (into the water) , which most snakes cannot do. Al- though, like the others, it hangs from trees or lies coiled on the bank waiting to seize anything man- ageable that may eonie in its way, it also sinks its body in the water and waits at chosen places near the bank until some animal comes down to drink, when it seizes it by the nose with a grip from which beasts rarely escajie before they are dragged down, enfolded, and drowned in its crushing embrace. One of the Brazilian names is 'deer-swallower,' and stories are UAd of its killing and eating cattle, horses, and jaguars; but these must be regarded as fanciful tales, in- spired by the same imagination which says it reaches a" length of from 50 to 80 feet. The largest specimen actually measured is that (a stuffed akin) in the British Museum, which is 29 feet long; it is not probable that this is often much exceeded, while the average length is, no doubt, nearer 20 than 30 feet. A snake of the largest size could certainly kill, and might swallow, one of the small Brazilian deer, at any rate a horn- less doe or fawn; but the more ordinary food consists of rodents, from the capybara down, peccaries, birds and their eggs, and fishes and reptiles, including their own kind. This serpent is rich green in color and marked with round blackish blotches, which often run together, as shown in the accompanying illustration. Not much is known as to the reproduction of boas, most of which seem to produce their young alive, while some are known to lay eggs. The rather contradictory experience on this point, derived from observation of captive specimens, is given in Miss Ilopley's Snakes. All the boas are hardy and long-lived, and those mentioned above are to be seen in various zoological gar- dens, where they usually thrive well if pro- tected from cold and intelligently treated, and often come to know their keepers and be very friendly with them. Certain species are con- stantly tamed and kept as pets among the vil- lagers of Brazil and Central America; and occa- sionally completely tamed specimens have been known in other parts of the world, not only among performers in animal shows, but in pri- ate, of which the most famous recent example is the boa "Cleo,' kept by Mr. and Mrs. Mann in London, and described by Frank Buckland in Land and Water and elsewhere about 1877. For special information, consult: Moles and Ulrich, "Serpents of Trinidad," in Proc. Zool. Soc. of London. 1804, page 499 et seq. ; Hopley, .Sji/iAes (London, 1882) ; and Gosse, A Naturalist's So- journ in Jamaica (London, 1851). BOAB'DELIN, Mahomet. A character in Drydcn's The Conquest of Granada. BOABDIL, bo'ab-del' (corrupted from Abu- Abdallah). The last Moorish King of (Jranada, surnamed El Clrico, 'The Little." He dethroned bis father, Abu-'l-llassan. in 14SL and two years later was defeated by the Castilians near Lucena, and taken prisoner, but on agreeing to pay tribute was set free and returned to CJranada to struggle for the tlirone against his father and his uncle, Al)dallalicl-Zaghal. 'I'he power of the Moors was greatly shaken by tliis civil conflict, and the dispute was finally settled by Ferdinand of Aragon. who in 1402 captured Granada, in spite of the reckless courage of the Moors and of Boabdil. The story goes that Boabdil. hav- ing handed over to Ferdinand the keys of the city, was riding on toward the mountains, when he turned, at Padul, on a spur of the .Alpujarras, to take a last look at the towers of Granada. "Allhu ,4kbar!" (God is great), he exclaimed.