This fateful _Lachesis_ of South America has been as perplexingly described by unscientific travellers as the _Jararaca_, and as hard to identify. It has been a stumbling-block and a snare ever since the time of Waterton, who thus wrote of it:[117]—‘Unrivalled in the display of every lovely colour of the rainbow, and unmatched in the effects of his deadly poison, the _counacouchi_ glides undaunted on, sole monarch of these forests. He sometimes grows to the length of fourteen feet. He is commonly known by the name of _Bushmaster_. Man and beast fly before him,’ etc. Waterton ‘wandered’ between the years 1812-1824, making several journeys to South America, primarily with the view to ascertain the composition and effects of the Wourali poison, and on this subject his information was of value. But his descriptions of serpents partook of the prejudices of that date, and were more picturesque than zoological. What he saw and wrote of possessed the charm of novelty in those days, and Sir Joseph Banks addressed a letter to him expressing ‘abundant thanks for the very instructive lesson you have favoured us with, which far excels in real utility anything I have yet seen.’ Endorsed by such an authority, what wonder that fourteen feet of radiantly splendid ‘Bushmaster’ should figure in the encyclopedias of the day, and be copied by book-makers and magazine contributors for years and years—even to the recent date of 1874! Hartwig, 1873,[118] gives Waterton’s ‘rainbow hues’ nearly word for word, with the addition of one of the scientific names, _Lachesis rhombeata_. Kingston, 1874,[119] aided by his imagination, improves on Waterton. The _Curucucu_, or _Couanacouchi_, ‘sometimes fourteen feet, is the largest known poisonous snake. It is remarkable for the glowing radiance of its fearful beauty, displaying all the prismatic colours. It mounts trees with the greatest ease,’ etc. (It lies half concealed _under_ the trees among dead leaves.) Another writer of _Travels round the World_ (meaning the British Museum Reading-room) contents himself with simply a ‘rainbow-coloured’ Bushmaster; so now in imagination we add indigo, blue, green, etc., to the ‘fearful beauty.’ Meanwhile other writers on Brazil introduce it as the Surucuru, Sorococo, Couroucoucou, Souroucoucou, Surukuku, and similar names, varied only by a transposition of letters and the addition of accents. Tschudi mentions it under its scientific name, _Lachesis rhombeata_, the ‘Flammon’ in Peru.[120] Sulivan,[121] who, like Waterton, rambled in South America, tells us ‘the Couni Couchi or Bushmaster is the most dreaded of all the South America serpents; and, as his name implies, he roams absolute master of the forest. They do not fly from man, but will even pursue and attack him. They are fat, clumsy-looking animals, about four’ (not fourteen) ‘feet long, and nearly as thick as a man’s arm. They strike with immense force.’ A man had been bitten in the thigh and