Having made sure of him, by a few more stones, we went down,
and one of the Kanakas cut off his rattle. These rattles vary in
number it is said, according to the age of the snake; though the
Indians think they indicate the number of creatures they have
killed. We always preserved them as trophies, and at the end of the
summer had quite a number. None of our people were ever bitten by
them, but one of our dogs died of a bite, and another was supposed
to have been bitten, but recovered. We had no remedy for the bite,
though it was said that the Indians of the country had, and the
Kanakas professed to have an herb which would cure it, but it was
fortunately never brought to the test.
Hares and rabbits, as I said before, were abundant, and, during
the winter months, the waters are covered with wild ducks and geese.
Crows, too, were very numerous, and frequently alighted in great
numbers upon our hides, picking at the pieces of dried meat and fat.
Bears and wolves are numerous in the upper parts, and in the interior,
(and, indeed, a man was killed by a bear within a few miles of San
Pedro, while we were there,) but there were none in our immediate
neighborhood.
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