THE HORRORS OF A NIGHT.

Waikato Times, Volume XLII, Issue 3358, 6 January 1894, Page 14

THE HORRORS OF A NIGHT.

Fishing and hunting, are.{recognised, as -Elpridais) favourite.,.pastimes.; Ampngithe many.experiences. which havAftee^m9t| ; \rjth. recently, none' excels-the horrible ordeal which; two., men ,irora , the., North went through -a ; few ; days .ago, 'a St, Augustine,dispatch,' 'Tlie-two'lofV town .on a fishing'top' to go aboiit sixty raileVfrom here/' ;M ! ,along the •stream, isa barren wilderness of scrul&y,'''undergrow.th, 'Boul'ders, 11 Being tired arid sore-footed after' their 'ftay's'journey,. the men'made'' themselves' comfortable 1 , on the'sur-face'-of.a' moss-grown' rock. After 1 a hearty mealj 'they ; b'6thfell asleep. One was, shortly afterward awakened*; l hf : Something choking himfand feeling • , found ! hi's ; strange' collar be ! c6ld4'ndslimy.;' ; lt ! waß a yefy'loe 'specimen- of jtiitfsnake throttled ; The -monster. ,« J soon despatched, iand ; i the' two (men were abdiii'ltoliedown again after rid-

ding themselves of the intruder, when they found, themselves liter-j ally surrounded by the reptiles. They were going to decamp lor a more congenial climate, but when about to leave the rock, hissing and rattling became more audible, and it was but a few minutes until it was as loud as ordinary-toned voices. The men, findings that they were surrounded, broke branches from the stubby undergrowth of pines, and commenced lashing the writhing sea of darting, hissing' snakes. Eealising that' they had an all night job, they secured rocks and larger sticks, and began killing the reptiles in earnest. The noise seemed to awaken the whole barren waste into a hissing and rattling forest. Each man began to slaughter with redoubled vigour, vainly trying to fight their way to the stream some hundred yards .away down a hill. They would gain a few paces of the distance, only to be driven back again to the rock. The rattling and hissing became so kid that their voices were scarcely, audible unless close togdhor';' .The hair oh both men's heads' stood up like bristles, while the arms were, bloodstained, to. the elbows. , The stench from the snaky battlefield was almost unbearable, and sickening in the extreme. Within three hours after the first snake had been killed, hundreds, if n*t thousands, had met a similar fate. Both men were badly bitten, and their legs and arms began swelling rapidly.. The hours wore slowly by, and the slaughter continued. \ At last morning came, and lifted the curtain- of night from a most appalling scene, , For fifty feet all round the large rock lay a heap,of stunned, squirm-, ing,.and dead snakes, and, as far as they could, see ; all .around the barren waste was a seething tide of reptiles that, came toward the, rock , with maddening Jury. With /difficulty they managed to reach'the river, and' soon arrived at a cabin, where medical attendance was given, The hair on both men's 1 heads had turned almost white during the night,: arid : it will beiweoks before they can fully recover from the effects of this fearful encounter. : ; ;