Part 15 (2/2)

The Mullah received them kindly, entertained them a day in his house, where all the diseased persons in the neighborhood were brought for the of the 30th of May, to accoe, toward noon, a scene took place, which is of so ive Mr Bacon's account of it in full:

”We were assisted fro set of men, e supposed to have coentleman, with a scar that divided his nose and his upper lip, and a silver-er, took a seat near the Mullah, and a violent discussion immediately conorant Soon, another party of villagers appeared, headed by another young man, as quite the counterpart of the first, even to the scar in his lip; but his dagger-hilt and sheath were of solid silver, set with precious stones, and the long ringlets which hung upon his shoulders, were still more daintily curled The arrival of this reinforcement renewed the violence of the discussion, between the Mullah on one side, and the young men on the other It plainly related to us, and the fierce looks of the Kurds, as they walked to and fro with their hands on their daggers, would have alarood will of our friend The controversy had a good deal subsided, when the approach of still another party renewed it onceHe was a ht red, and with his lower eyebrows stained a livid blue-black He greeted us with a ferocious smile, and entered at once into earnest conversation with Mullah Mustafa The conversation was interrupted, now and then, by one of his a violently, to the great apparent satisfaction of the crowd

”We soon learned the nature of these discussions froitated listener to the whole The respectable old gentle the second at a convenient distance to assist hied, ca that business lagged, caer of injuring persons of consequence 'The sword of the Frank is long,' said he But this argument ithout effect

Mustafa then appealed to hirace his hospitality These men were under his own protection, and he would not see theed that eredirect to Constantinople; that, by securing our influence against his colleague and rival, Melul Agha, he ht secure a perpetual supreained the case; the eyes of the old savage glistened with diabolical satisfaction as he thought of the villainous trick he was about to play upon his rival He drew from his bosom a letter and handed it to the Mullah, who read it and handed it to our servant It ritten by Melul Agha, to Khan Abdul, our present host, directing him to take the rest of our property, and murder us without fail This letter had been written on the blank page of another letter, sent to Melul Agha, by Mustafa Agha, of Ziba, who resides at Akkre It was the last scoundrel who had sent letters in advance of us into thethe a little iovernment at Mosul”

After these hair-breadth escapes from murder, the party returned in safety to Mosul

A BATTLE WITH SNAKES

Since the exhibitions in London of the two Hindoo snake-char relating to serpents see the nature and habits of the various species have been published, affording reater astonishs in South America and the Antilles, in 1812-24,” relates so froht be reasonably doubted

While in the region of Mibri Hill, Mr Waterton long sought in vain for a serpent of large size, and finally, offered a reward to the negroes if they would find him one A few days afterward one of the natives, followed by his little dog, came to him with the information that a snake of respectable dimensions had been discovered a short distance up the hill; and arroes with cutlasses and the dog, he at once started to take a look at it Mr Waterton states that he was barefoot, with an old hat, check shi+rt and trousers on, and a pair of braces to keep the at the roots of a large tree which had been torn up by a ind But the reiven in the traveler's oords:

I advanced up to the place slow and cautious The snake ell concealed, but at last I e enough to have crushed any of us to death On

This species of snake is very rare, and th than any other snake in the forest A coulacanara of fourteen feet in length, is as thick as a co this snake, I could easily get ular formation of the jaws ad the size of the serpent, I retired slowly the way I caro who had shown it to me, and one dollar to the other who had joined us Aware that the day was on the decline, and that the approach of night would be detriht struck ined that if I could strike hiround, I roes, they begged and entreatedmore force, as they were sure the snake would kill soroes, and then ranging both of the sable slaves behind me, I told them to follow me, and that I would cut theot 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, deterentlest ro stood guard close behind me with a cutlass The cutlass which I had taken froround close besidein dead silence for a quarter of an hour, with one knee all the tih to see his head It appeared co 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,was sitting at a distance in roes, that they considered this a very unpleasant affair; and they o for a gun I sood-natured manner, and made a feint to cut them doith 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 ere about twenty yards froroes 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 theer, and thus forever spoil his skin On taking their cutlasses fronomy, they seemed to consider it as akept the, 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, withoutour arms or heads, in order to prevent all alarlide off, or attack us in self-defence I carried the lance perpendicularly before round The snake had notup to him, I struck him with the lance on the near side, just behind the neck, and pinned hiro next to me seized the lance and held it firrapple with the snake, and to get hold of his tail before he could do any round with the lance, he gave a tre as he went We had a sharp fray in the den, the rotten sticks flying on all sides, and each party struggling for superiority I called out to the second negro to throw hih He did so, and the additional weight was of great service I had now got a firave in, finding himself overpowered This was the ro continued to hold the lance fir me, I contrived to unloosen my braces, and with the himself in an unpleasant predicament, tried to better himself, and set resolutely to work, but we overpowered him We contrived to make him twist himself round the shaft of the lance, and then prepared to convey him out of the forest I stood at his head, and held it fir the belly and the other the tail In this order we began toten times; for the snake was too heavy for us to support, without stopping to recruit our strength As we proceeded onith hiht hard for freedo, kept him down by , a curious conflict took place near the spot where I had captured the large snake In thea species of paroquet, and, the day being rainy, I had taken an uun dry, and had left it under a tree: in the afternoon, I took Daddy Quashi+ (the negro) withabout, curiosity led me toward the place of the late scene of action There was a path where ti

Here I observed a young coulacanara, ten feet long, slowly h to break ot twisted around it There was not a moment to be lost I laid hold of his tail with the left hand, one knee being on the ground; and, with the right hand, I took off my hat, and held it as I would hold a shi+eld for defence

The snake instantly turned, and caround, as if to ask me what business I had to take such liberties with his tail I let hi and open-mouthed, within two feet of my face, and then, with all the force that I was master of, drove my fist, shi+elded by my hat, full in his jaws He was stunned and confounded by the blow, and, ere he could recover himself, I had seized his throat with both hands, in such a position that he could not bite me I then allowed him to coil himself around my body and marched off with hily so

ESTILL'S DEFEAT

In the spring of 1782, a party of twenty-five Wyandots secretly approached Estill's station, and co a cabin, they tohborhood was instantly alarmed Captain Estill speedily collected a body of twenty-five reat rapidity He ca, immediately after they had crossed it; and a most severe and desperate conflict ensued

Estill, unfortunately, sent six of his men under Lieutenant Miller, to attack the enemy's rear The Indian leader immediately availed himself of this dimunition of force, rushed upon the weakened line of his adversaries, and coive way A total route ensued

Captain Estill was killed together with his gallant lieutenant, South

Four men ounded and fortunately escaped Nine fell under the tomahawk, and were scalped The Indians also suffered severely, and are believed to have lost half of their warriors

[Illustration: Attack on Estill's Station]