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Show 340 TRAVELS TIIROUGT1 UPPFR CANADA : thc(c ifl:tnds produce, indicates thnt the foil muf1 be uncommonly fcrti1c. I {ere arc found in gr ·at numbers, amongll: the woods, racoons, ami fquirrtls ; bears arc alfo at times found upon fomc of the iflands during tlt ... winter fe.1Con, when the lake is fro:t en between th::: main hnd :~ond the iOand ; but they do not remain continu ally, as the othcl! :~ nimals do. All the iflAnds nrc dreadfully infcfied with ferpents, ami on fome of them ratt\efnakc arc fo numerous, that in the height of fnmmer it is re ally dangerous to land: it w.1s now late in September ; yet we had not bcer1 three minutes on 111orc on B::t fs If] UJ d, before ii:vcrdl of thefe noxious J•cptilcs were feen nmongll: the bufh s, and a cou plJ of them, of a large fize, were killed by the fcan1e11. Two kinds of rnttlcii1akes arc found in this part of the country i the one is of. a deep brown colour, clouded with yellow, and is feldom met with more than thirty inches in length. It u[ually frequents marChes and low meadow , where it docs great mifcbicf amongO: cattle, which it bites mofily in the lips as they are grazing. The other fort is of a greeni0.1 yellow colonr:, clouded with brown, and attains nearly twice the fize of the other. It is moll: commonly found between three and four feet in length, and as thick as the wriO: of a large man. The rattleihake is much thicker in proportion to its length than any other fnake, and it is thickc(l: in the middle of rhe body, which approaches fomewhat to a triangular form, the belly being flat, and the back bone rifing higher than any other part of the animal. The rattle, with which this ferpent is provided, is at the end of the tail; it is ufually about half an inch in breadth, one quarter of an inch in thicknefs, and each joint about half an inch long. The joint confill:s of a number of little cafes of a dry horny fubll:ance, inclofed one within another., and not only the outermoll: of thefe little cafes articulates witll the outermoO: cafe of the contiguous joint, but each cafe, even to the fmallefi one of all, at the infide, is- conneCted by a fort of joint with the correfponding cafe in the next joint of the rattle. The little cafes or .!hells lie very loofely within one another, and the noife proceeds from their dry and hard coats {hiking one againft the other. It is faid that the animal gains a frelh joint to its rattle every year; of this, however, I have R A T T L E S N A K L S. I have g reat dou bts, fo r the b rgefl fnakcs arc freque ntly fou nd to have the fe\ve<l: joints to their rattl ', . 1\ t • • cdicJl gcntl ·man in the neighbouiiwoJ of Newmarket, behind the Uluc fo untai ns, in Virginia, had a rJttle in his po«c iTi on, wh ich contain..:d no 1 (s than thir ty-two j oint ; yet the fnake from wbi h it was taken fcarcc ly admeafured five f·cc t; rattlcfiw.hs, how vcr, of the f.m1c kind, ancl in the fame part of. the country, h;1ve bee n found of a greater length with not more than ten rattles. One of the fnakc ~ , which we faw killed on Ba.fs Iiland, in Lake Eric, had no more than .fi ur joints in its rattle, and yet it was nearly fout· feet long. The {kin f the rattlcfl1ake, when the animal is wounded, ov otherwi!e enraged, exhibits a variety of beautiful tints, never fcen at:J any other time. It is not with the teeth which the rattlefi1ake uft:& for ordinary purpofes that it firikes its enemy, but with two long crooked fangs in the upper jaw, which point down the throat. When. a bon t to ufe thefe fangs, it rears itfclf up a.s much as poffible, throw3 back its head, drops its under jaw, and fpringing forward upon its tail~ endeavours to hook itfclf as it were upon its enemy. In order to raifc itfclf on its tail it coils itfelf up prcviouOy in a fpiralline, with the head in the middle. It cannot fpriog farther forward than about half its own· lengd1. The fle{h of the rattle-fnake is as white as the mofi delicate fia1, and is much dtcemed by thofe who are not prevented from tafling it by prejudice. The foup made from it is f.1.id to be delicious, and very J1ouri01ing. In my rambles about the iflands under which we by at anchor, I found m::tny fpccimens of the cxuvicc of theft fnakcs, which, in the opinion of the country people of Upper Canada, are very efEcacious. in the cure of the rheumatifin, when bid over the part affii3:ed, and faO:ened down with a bandage. The body of the rattlefi1ake dried to a cinder ove.c the fire, and then finely pulverifed, and infufed in a certain portion of brandy, is alfo faid to be a never failing remedy againfi that diforder. I converfed with many people who had made ufc of this medicine, and thcx were firmly perfuaded that they were indebted to it for a fpeedy cure .. The· |
