A great snake had caught a wild boar in his coils, and was slowly lifting him from the ground, while the victim was manifesting his terror in his loudest tones. The Doctor was about to fire at the snake, but at a sign from Mr. Segovia he stopped, and the party stood in a place of concealment to see the end of the combat between, as Frank expressed it, "the boa and the boar." When he had lifted the boar clear from the ground the snake swung him against the tree, crushing his bones and killing him. Then he let his prey fall, and proceeded to unwind himself and descend preparatory to eating his breakfast. As he loosened his coil the signal was given for the Doctor to fire; and, as he had an explosive bullet in his rifle, he shattered the head of the snake completely. The serpent fell to the ground at once; he lashed the trees and bushes in a frightful way, but as he was totally blinded by the smashing of his head, he could do no damage to anybody. The attendants came forward and secured some bamboo loops around the reptile's neck, and suspended him from the tree, where he continued to twist and turn till the party moved on. The natives said that these contortions would continue for hours, and that they rarely ceased till sundown, even though the head of the snake had been detached before noon. As they moved on to their hunting-ground, our friends discussed the incident of the morning, and wondered if they would see anything more of the same sort. Mr. Segovia told the boys that the boa-constrictor was a very common snake in the Philippines, and sometimes grew to great size, though less so than in Sumatra and Borneo. "He is far less dangerous than you might suppose," said he, "as he rarely attacks man, and there is no poison in his bite; in fact, he has no bite at all, and his mode of killing his prey is by crushing it as you have just seen. Once in a while a native is killed by a boa, but the occurrence is rare, and generally owing to the carelessness of the victim rather than the superior cunning of the snake. He is not very active in his ordinary movements, but if roused he can display considerable agility, when the size of his body is considered. [Illustration: FIGHT WITH A GREAT SNAKE.]