So ... there was _Alexander_ the _Great_, and there is _Alexander_ the _Little_, the ingenious and learned Mr. _Pope_; the one conquered by the Sword, the other by his Pen, and has made all the Regions of Fame tributary to him. CXXIV. The _tame_ and _tractable Serpent_, is of the _Indian_ Race, about an Inch long, when brought first from the Field for domestick Education; and when at its full Growth, is not much short of a Man’s Thigh. Its Habitation is in some little Hutch erected on purpose, (_indulgentiæ gratia_) where it idles away its time, till Hunger brings it out. Upon its Approach to the Master of the House, it creeps up to his Shoulders, where the Embraces of that terrible Creature (being made tame) are received with Delight[291]. Footnote 291: _Nierembergius_, cap. xl. p. 283.—Humeros heri amicè conscendunt, benevolè terrifici animalis amplexus tolerantis. CXXV. The _Tleoa_, or _Tetloa_, that is, a little fiery Serpent, and very common in the new World, and described by the Historian thus[292], _viz._ ’Tis about a Finger broad, and five or six Foot long, and differenced from others by a Medley of Spots, compounded of white, black, yellow, and dun Colours. The Head is like that of our Vipers, and the Tail, which seems to have a touch of the Rattle, ends acutely. Footnote 292: _Nierembergius_; from _Franciscus Hernandus_. Its Wounds are deadly, and burn like Fire; hence the Name it bears: Though fiery in Nature, is slow and winding in Motion, and may be avoided by the Traveller, if he has Eyes and Ears. Its usual Residence is in Mountains, and the higher Mountains are, the greater the Cold, (because they only receive direct, and but little of the reflected Rays of the Sun) yet are the Habitations of fiery Animals. The Learned observe, there are Mountains a Mile and an half high, to the tops of which, no Vapour, and consequently no Clouds, can ever reach: And hence it is that in very high Mountains, as the _Pico de Theide_ in _Bohemia_, though the middle part be always inverted with Snow, and the bottom scorched with intolerable Heat; yet on the top you will find yourself in a pure, thin, serene Air, and view the Clouds hovering at a considerable distance below you[293]. Footnote 293: _Montibus Tepeztlanicis._ Hence it is that all Thunder is confined within less than a Mile’s Height. The Air is coldest in the highest places, and hottest in the lowest; but in the intermediate Atmosphere, where we live, very unequal: but no Climates, however situated, are privileged with Exemption from venemous Creatures, and where they are less pestered with them, ’tis owing to the Cultivation of the Land. The Wounds given by this Serpent are dangerous, and cured by an Herb called _Ancola_, by _Jonstonus_, p. 26, 27. but _Anola_, by _Nierembergius_, p. 277, 283.