The Virginia Gazette

An Account of the Anocando, a monstrous Species of
Serpent in the East-Indies, and of the Manner of it's
seizing and managing it's Prey.

In a Letter from an English Gentleman to his Friend many Years Resident there.

SIR,

I HAVE read with great Pleasure, the Accounts you have occasionally
given me of the more wonderful Sorts of Animals and their Properties. Your late Account of the River Horse I have had the
more Pleasure in, as I have seen many of the Creatures in Ceylon,
and find your Account accurate and just. Your late Relation of the
Manner of the Rattle Snake's charming it's Prey gave me no less
Satisfaction. These may seem strange to those who have seen no Part of
the World beside that they were born in; but to the Traveller they are
in a Manner familiar. I have an Account to give you here, however, to
which all that might appear most strange in your Relations, will seem Natural, and such a one as I know must startle even you : But be assured,
Sir, I shall aggravate no Circumstance, but relate merely what myself and
more than an Hundred others saw, and gazed at for two whole Days to-
gether. —And to cut short my Preface, let me enter upon the Story.

Some Years since, the Commands of my Directors carrying me to Cey-
Ion, to transact an Affair of no little Consequence, I had an Apartment pre-
pared me on the Skirts of the Principal Town facing the Woods; at some
Distance from my Window there was a rising Ground, on which stood
three or four large very Palm-Trees, that afforded me every Morning as I lay
in Bed a delightful Prospect. One Morning, as I was looking at these,
I saw, as I thought, a large Arm of one of them in strange Commoti-
ons, bending and twisting about, tho' there was no Wind, and often strik-
ing one End on the Earth, then raising it again, and losing it among the
Leaves. I was gazing at this with great Amazement, when a Ceylonese
coming in, I begged him to look and wonder with me; he look'd, Sir,
and he was much more amazed and terrified than I; in short, a Paleness
overspread his whole Face, and he seemed almost sinking to the Earth with
Terror. He conjur'd me to barr up all my Doors; then told me, that
what appeared an Arm of a Tree to me, was in reality a Serpent of that
monstrous Size, diverting it's self there with it's various Commotions, and
now and then darting down to the Earth for Prey. I soon found out the
Truth of what he told me, and looking more nearly, saw it seize a small
Animal before me, and take it up into the Tree. Enquiring after this
Miracle, the Ceylonese told me, that the Wonder was only that the Crea-
ture was so near us, for that it was a Serpent, but too well known on the
Island; but that it usually kept in the inland Parts and Woods, where it
often dropt down from the Covert of a large Tree, and devoured a Tra-
veller alive. A Relation so strange as this could never have gained Credit
with me, but that I plainly saw before my Eyes a Creature from it's Size
capable of doing more than was related. The Monster, Sir, continued di-
verting himself till we assembled a Body of Twelve of us, to go on Horse-back
well armed to destroy him. We rode up toward the Place in a Body;
but, not to expose ourselves to unnecessary Dangers, we surrounded the
Ground, and rode behind a close Thicket, from whence we might unseen
level our Fire-Arms at him. It was by this Time the Heat of the Day,
and when we arrived there, we found him so much larger than we had
conceived, that we all wished ourselves safe at Home again; and it was a
long Time before any Body dared fire a Gun. We had now Time to
observe the Creature, and believe me, Sir, all the Descriptions of Monsters
of this Kind hitherto given are Trifles to the Truth of what we saw in him.
The Ceylonese all agreed he was much larger than any they had ever seen,
and such a Mixture of Horror and of Beauty together, no Eye but that
which saw it, can conceive. The Creature, Sir, was more than as thick
as a slender Man's Waist, yet seemed far from fat, and very long in Pro-
portion to his Thickness ; often hanging himself by the Tail from
the highest Boughs of the Tree, and reaching the Ground with his
Head. He was most surprisingly agile and nimble, and was now divert-
ing himself in the Heat of the Day with a thousand Gambols round the
Branches of the Tree, and sometimes would come down and twist his Tail
round the Bottom of the Trunk, throwing himself to his whole Length all
round it. In the Midst of one of these Gambols, we were surprised to see
him get up in Haste into the Tree; but the Cause soon appeared, a small
Animal of the Fox Kind, but not like our English Foxes, coming immedi-
ately after it, the Serpent had seen him coming, and took this Way to be
prepared for him. He darted down upon the unwary Creature from the
Tree, and sucked him in a few Minutes, then licked his Chops with a
broad double Tongue of a blackish Colour, and laid himself at his Ease at
Length upon the Ground, but with his Tail still twited round the Tree.
In this Posture I had Leisure with Horror, yet with Admiration, to behold
him. He was covered all over with Scales like those of a Crocodile, all
rigged up in the Middle; his Head was Green with, a vast Black Spot
in the Middle, and Yellow Streaks round the Jaws; he had a Yellow Cir-
cle like a golden Collar round his Neck, and behind that another great
Spot of Black. His Sides were of a dusky Olive Colour, and his Back
more beautiful than can be well imagined; there run down the Middle
of it, Sir, a broad Chain of Black, curled and waved at the Edges; round
this there runs all the Way a narrow one of Flesh Colour, and on the
Outside of that a very broad one of a bright Yellow, not strait like a
Ribband, but waved and curled in various Inflections, and spotted all over
at small Distances, with great, round and long Blotches of a perfect Blood
Colour; his Head was very flat, but extremely broad, and his Eyes mon-
strously large and very bright and terrible.

These, Sir, were his Colours as he lay still, but when he moved about
in the Sun he was a thousand Times more beautiful, the Colours according
to the several Shades of the Light, presenting the Eye with a vast Variety
of Mixtures, and in many Places looking like our changeable Colours in
Silk.

We now all aimed our Pieces at him as he lay, and fired at his Head
all at the same Instant, but whether he accidentally moved just at that
Time, or our Fears made us take bad Sight, or whatever else might be the
Cause, we either missed him or never hurt him; in short, he took no sort
of Notice of it, and after a Council of War, we all agreed to make no
farther Attempt upon him at that Time, but to go Home, and return with
a stronger Party the next Day.

The Ceylonese seemed to know the Creature well, they call it Anocan-
do, and talked of eating it's Flesh when they caught it, as they had no
small Hopes of this; for, they say, when one of these Creatures chuses a
Tree for his Dwelling, he seldom quits it of a long Time. I detained
my Company of Ceylonese to dine with me, and the Afternoon was spent
in relating the amazing Things which one or other of the Company had
seen in this Sort of Monsters; in short, they told a thousand Things that
far outwent my Credulity ; but I am to inform you, that what we saw the
following Day as much exceeded all they had told me, as what they told
seemed to exceed Truth and Probability : It seems the constant Custom of
this Creature to lay wait for it's Prey, is by hiding in the Boughs of large
Trees, whence it unsuspected drops upon the wretched Creature, which
is seized before it sees it's Enemy. But the Instance we saw of this, I
must relate to you at large.

The next Morning, Sir, we assembled, to the Number of more than an
Hundred at the old Thicket, where he had the Pleasure (if I dare call it
so) to find our Enemy still at his old Post; he seemed very fierce and very
hungry this Morning, and we soon saw the amazing Effects of it. There
are great Plenty of Tygers, you must know, Sir, in that Country : One
of these, of a monstrous Size, not lower than a common Heifer, as he
went along, came at length under our Serpent's Tree; in a Moment we
heard a dreadful Rustling in the Tree, and swift as Thought, the Serpent dropt
upon him, seizing him across the Back, a little below the Shoulders, with
his horrible Mouth and taking in a Piece of the Back bigger than a Man's
Head; the Creature roared with Agony, and, to our unspeakable Terror,
was running with his Enemy towards us; his Course however was soon
stopped, for the nimble Adversary winding his Body three or four Times
round the Body of his Prey, girted him so violently, that he soon fell down
in Agony. The Moment the Serpent had fixed his Folds, he let go the
Back of the Creature, and raising and twining round his Head, opened it's
horrid Mouth to it's full Extent, and seized the whole Face of the Tyger
in it, biting and grinding him in a most horrid Manner, and at once
choaking him and tearing him to Pieces. The Tyger reared up again on
this, and Words are too poor to paint his seeming Agony; he wreathed
and tossed about, but all in vain, the Enemy wherever he went was with
him, and his hollow Roaring from within the Destroyer's Mouth was dread-
ful beyond Expression.

I was for firing on the Creature in this State, but they all declared a-
gainst it; they told me, they knew his Customs so well, that they were
now very sure of him without any Trouble or Hazard, if they let him
alone, but if they disturbed him in this Condition, he would be so out-
rageous, that several of our Lives would assuredly pay the Forfeit. They
seemed to know so well what they were about, that I readily acquiesced.
Several of us spent the whole Day, Si, in observing this strange Sight;
and surely the Agonies of the Tyger were beyond all that can be con-
ceived, and his Death more horrid than a thousand other Deaths with all
their Tortures put together.

The Tyger was a very strong and fierce Creature, and tho' unable to
hurt or get rid of it's cruel Enemy yet gave him a World of Trouble ; an
hundred Times would he rear up and run a little Way. but soon fell down
again partly oppressed by the Weight, and partly by the Folds and wreath-
ed Twists of the Serpent round his Body, bat tho' he fell, he was far from
being conquer'd, or at all manageable. After some Hours, he seemed
much spent, and lay as if dead ; and the Serpent, who had many Times
girted himself violently round him. attempting to break his Bones, but in
vain, now let go his Hold, and twifling his Tail only round the Tygers
Neck, who was now in no Condition either to resist or escape. he made
towards the Tree. dragging with some pains the Victim after him. Now
appeared the double Use of the Tree to the Creature : Nature it seems
informs this Animal, that tho' it can conquer such large Creatures as
these, it can by no Means devour them as they are, Since their Bodies are
too too thick for his Swallow, and therefore he must break their Bones. and reduce them to a soft Mass, before he can manage them. This he usually does, as we saw him attempt it on the Tyger, by girting his Body very firmly and hard round them, by this Means crushing them to Pieces.; but when this Method will not take Place he has Recourse to the Tree, as we now had Opportunity to observe. He dragged the Tyger, Sir, by Degrees after him to the Tree, and the Creature being now almost dead, and unable to stand. he seized him lightly a second Time by the Back, and set him on his Legs against the Trunk of the Tree, then immediately winding his Body round both the Tyger and the Tree several Times, he girted both with all his Violence. till the Ribs and, other Bones began to give Way, and by repeated Attempts of this Kind, he broke all the Ribs almost one after another, this Creature's Bones being prodigiously tough, and each giving a loud crack when it broke; when he had managed all the Ribs thus. he next attempted the Legs, and broke them severally in the same Manner. and each in four or five different Places; this took up many Hours, and the poor Creature all this While was living, and at every loud Crack of the Bones, gave a Howl, tho' not loud, yet piteous enough to pierce the cruellest Heart, and make even a Man forget his natural hatred to its Species, and pity it's Misery. After the Legs, the Snake attacked the Skull in the same Manner, but this proved so difficult a Task, that the Monster tired with his Fatigue, and seeing his Prey in no Condition of escaping. left him for the Night at the Foot of the Tree, and retired into it himself to rest. This gave us Occasion of going Home, and I much after you, I could not sleep for the poor Tyger, who was naturally so strong and vigorous, that we left him still alive, tho'broken and mangled in this miserable Manner. In the Morning I returned with several others to the Thicket, but as we rode up, we saw a strange Change in the Face of Things, the Body of the Tyger, which was now no longer to be known as such, but looked like a red Lump of shapeless Matter, was dragg'd to some Distance from the Tree.and shone all over as covered with Sleet or Jelly; when we arrived, we saw very plainly the Meaning of all this, the Snake was yet busy about it. He had laid it's Legs one by one close to the Body, and was now placing the Head straight before, and licking the- Body (which now had no remaining Shape of one, it's Bones being all broken) and covering it with his Slaver, which was what gave it that shining Look, coating it over like a Jelly, and rendering it fit for swallowing. A great deal of Time was employed in this, but at length the Serpent having-prepared it to his Mind, drew himself. up before-it. and seiz'd the Head, just as the Rattle- Snake in your Account did the Rat, and began to suck that, and afterwards the Body.down into his Throat, this was a Work of so much Time, that I left him struggling at the Shoulders when I went Home to Dinner, and by the Account of those who stayed to watch himn, it was Night before he got the Whole in. The Morning following we all assembled for the last Time, and the every Women and Children followed us, assuring us, that the Prey was gorged, there was no Danger. I could by no Means conceive the Meaning of this, till I came to the Place. but then I found it very true ; the Serpent had so loaded his Belly. that he could neither fight nor run away. He attempted on our Approach to climb the Tree, but in vain, and was soon knocked on the Head with Staves. We measured him, and his Length was Thirty-three Feet Four Inches. He was soon. cut up. and I assure you, Sir, afforded a Flesh whiter than Veal, and as they say that eat of it, finer tasted than any Flesh whatever :I hope the curious Nature of this Account will plead Pardon for it's Length, and am with great Wishes of Success to you, Worthy SIR, Your very humble Servant, R.EDWIN.