When we had got up to the place, the serpent had not stirred:  but I could see nothing of his head, and judged by the folds of his body that it must be at the farthest side of the den.  A species of woodbine formed a complete mantle over the branches of the fallen tree, almost impervious to the rain or the rays of the sun.  Probably he had resorted to this sequestered place for a length of time, as it bore marks of an ancient settlement.

I now took my knife, determined to cut away the woodbine, and break the twigs in the gentlest manner possible, till I could get a view of his head.  One negro stood guard close behind me with a cutlass.  The cutlass which I had taken from the first negro, was on the ground close beside me, in case of need.  After working in dead silence for a quarter of an hour, with one knee all the time on the ground, I had cleared away enough to see his head.  It appeared coming out between the first and second coils of his body, and was flat on the ground.  This was the very position I wished it to be in.  I rose in silence, and retreated very slowly, making a sign to the negroes to do the same.  The dog was sitting at a distance in mute observance.  I could now read in the faces of the negroes, that they considered this a very unpleasant affair; and they made another vain attempt to persuade me to let them go for a gun.  I smiled in a good-natured manner, and made a feint to cut them down with the weapon I had in my hand.  This was all the answer I made to their request, and they looked very uneasy.

It must be observed that we were about twenty yards from the snake’s den.  I now ranged the negroes behind me, and told him who stood next to me, to lay hold of the lance the moment I struck the snake, and that the other must attend my movements.  It now only remained to take their cutlasses from them; for I was sure that if I did not disarm them, they would be tempted to strike the snake in time of danger, and thus forever spoil his skin.  On taking their cutlasses from them, if I might judge from their physiognomy, they seemed to consider it as a most intolerable act of tyranny.  Probably nothing kept them from bolting, but the consolation that I was betwixt them and the snake.  Indeed, my own heart, in spite of all I could do, beat quicker than usual.  We went slowly on in silence, without moving our arms or heads, in order to prevent all alarm as much as possible, lest the snake should glide off, or attack us in self-defence.  I carried the lance perpendicularly before me, with the point about a foot from the ground.  The snake had not moved, and on getting up to him, I struck him with the lance on the near side, just behind the neck, and pinned him to the ground.  That moment the negro next to me seized the lance and held it firm in its place, while I dashed head foremost into the den to grapple with the snake, and to get hold of his tail before he could do any mischief.