Of their serpents; the rattlesnake, small green snake.  Amphisbaena, small black and small grey snake; the great land-snake, and the great watersnake; and of the water-dog.

They have here also the amphisbaena, or two-headed snake, of a grey colour, mixed with blackish stripes, whose bite is reckoned to be incurable.  It is said to be blind, though it has two small specks in each head like eyes:  but whether it sees or not I cannot tell.  They say it lives like a mole, mostly underground; and that when it is found above ground it is easily killed, because it moves but slowly:  neither is its sight (if it hath any) so good as to discern anyone that comes near to kill it:  as few of these creatures fly at a man or hurt him but when he comes in their way.  It is about 14 inches long and about the bigness of the inner joint of a man’s middle finger; being of one and the same bigness from one end to the other, with a head at each end (as they said; for I cannot vouch it, for one I had was cut short at one end) and both alike in shape and bigness; and it is said to move with either head foremost, indifferently; whence it is called by the Portuguese cobra-de-dos-cabesas, the snake with two heads.

The small black snake is a very venomous creature.

There is also a grey snake, with red and brown spots all over its back.  It is as big as a man’s arm and about 3 foot long, and is said to be venomous.  I saw one of these.

Here are two sorts of very large snakes or serpents:  one of them a land-snake, the other a water-snake.  The land-snake is of a grey colour, and about 18 or 20 foot long:  not very venomous, but ravenous.  I was promised the sight of one of their skins but wanted opportunity.

The water-snake is said to be near 30 foot long.  These live wholly in the water, either in large rivers or great lakes, and prey upon any creature that comes within their reach, be it man or beast.  They draw their prey to them with their tails:  for when they see anything on the banks of the river or lake where they lurk they swing about their tails 10 or 12 foot over the bank; and whatever stands within their sweep is snatched with great violence into the river, and drowned by them.  Nay it is reported very credibly that if they see only a shade of any animal at all on the water, they will flourish their tails to bring in the man or beast whose shade they see and are oftentimes too successful in it.  Wherefore men that have business near any place where these water-monsters are suspected to lurk are always provided with a gun, which they often fire, and that scares them away or keeps them quiet.  They are said to have great heads and strong teeth about 6 inches long.  I was told by an Irishman who lived here that his wife’s father was very near being taken by one of them, about this time of my first arrival here, when his father was with him up in the country:  for the beast flourished his tail for him, but came not nigh enough by a yard or two; however it scared him sufficiently.