_The Boah_, or desert snake, is an enormous monster, from twenty to eighty feet long, as thick as a man’s body, and of a dingy colour: this inhabitant of Sahara is not venomous, though it is not less destructive: the Arabs (speaking of it figuratively)[104] affirm, that as it passes along the desert it fires the ground with the velocity of its motion. It is impossible to escape it; it will twist itself round an ox, and after crushing its bones, will swallow it gradually, after which it lies supinely on the ground two or three days, unable to proceed till the animal be digested. Two of these monsters stationed themselves near the road from Marocco to Terodant, near to the latter city, a few years since; one of them was killed, the other remained there several days, and prevented travellers from passing the road: they were both young ones, being about twenty feet long. Various stories are related by the Arabs of Sahara respecting the Boahs; but they are mostly ingenious fables, originally intended to inculcate some moral lesson. Without speaking of all the various kinds of serpents which are either timid, harmless or not venomous, I must observe, that _The Domestic Serpents_ claim some attention. In the city of Marocco these animals abound; there is scarcely a house without its domestic serpent, which is sometimes seen moving along the roofs of the apartments; they are never molested by the family, who would not hurt them on any consideration, conceiving them a benediction on the household; they have been known to suck the breasts of women whilst asleep, and retire without offering any further injury. They are so susceptible, as to be sensible of enmity towards them, and it is thought imprudent to incur their displeasure; for this reason the inhabitants of Marocco treat them kindly, and as members of the family, not wishing to disturb an animal that claims the rights of hospitality by settling in their house. THE TORTOISE. _(Fackrone.)_ Land-tortoises of a very large size abound in Barbary and in Suse, where, in the afternoon of a hot day, one may collect a dozen in the course of an hour. They are esteemed good eating by the French, and the inhabitants of the shores of the Mediterranean.[105] The wonderful geometrical construction of this animal is such, that it will bear a ton weight on its back. In Sahara the turpins, or land tortoises, are reported to be very large, weighing four, five, or six hundred weight; but I never heard of any like those found at the time Leo Africanus wrote, who mentions a man who had seen one as big as a tun, and he himself says he saw one the size of a barrel. BIRDS.