With this picture of a large Brazilian serpent, drawn by such an authority as Wallace, one read in Ogilvy’s dictionary: ‘Jararaca. A species of serpent in America, seldom exceeding eighteen inches in length; having prominent veins on the head, and of a dusky, brownish colour, variegated with red and black spots.’
Then Webster—evidently from the same source: ‘A species of serpent in America,’—word for word the same as far as the black spots—‘very poisonous. Native name in Surinam.’ And in a newer edition, Webster, in addition, gives its scientific name, Bothrops Jararaca; and that it is ‘a native to (sic) Brazil.’
‘Oh! if a Bothrops, then it is one of the Crotalidæ,’ was the decision arrived at. Kingsley, in his At Last, mentions a ‘mangrove snake, much dreaded by being so like the deadly Cascobel, viz. Trigonocephalus jararaca.’ Thus with our puzzle we combine a Bothrops with the ‘pit;’ a Trigonocephalus with the worst of the viperine heads; and according to Wallace, a Craspedocephalus, which, at a guess, must be that it has something rough about the head to entitle it to this specific.
Few of the encyclopedias described it individually, or threw more light upon it. Worcester’s dictionary states that the Jararaca is ‘a species of venomous American serpent seldom exceeding eighteen inches;’ and gives Wright as an authority. Spix and Martin[110] in their list of venomous snakes describe Jararacucu, called also Shiraraca, as a Bothrops; and also a Jararaca mirim, a small one. Marcgravius[111] figures a Iararaca, a small snake of a bright red with black spots.
And now for our old friend the Pilgrim Purchas. ‘Of snakes that have Poison, Iararaca is a Name that comprehendeth foure kinds. The first is the greatest J. There are other smaller Jararacas, about half a Yard long. They have certaine Veines in their Head like the Vipers.’
Have those ‘prominent veins anything to do with its name Craspedocephalus’? But how about its being only eighteen inches? This was the pursuit of snakes under difficulties, the clearing away of which was accomplished only by slow degrees, as one book after another offered new contradictions with still other varieties of spelling. Without doubt this perplexing reptile was viperine, rough, angular-headed, crotaline, and probably hideous; but as for colouring there were many doubts about that.
After several years’ familiarity with the name of this puzzling ‘Jararaca,’ and curiosity increasing at a corresponding ratio, the reader can imagine the effect produced by unexpectedly seeing at the London Zoological Gardens one day in September 1880 a new label to one of the cages in the Ophidarium thus inscribed, ‘Craspedocephalus Braziliensis. The Jarraracca. Presented by Dr. Stradling.’
A live Jararaca at last! Now we shall know all about it.
But how is this? The serpent before me was not a viper, not rough-headed, not a Bothrops, because it had only one pair of nostrils. It had smooth, polished scales, large, beautiful, round eyes, with no ‘red spots’ and not a spice of venom or of viperishness about it. And I stood staring and wondering, and—I must confess—disappointed at this meek-looking, smallish snake being a representative of the terrible, ‘formidable’ picture that had been conjured up. ‘I don’t believe that’s a Jararaca!’ were my inward conclusions. ‘I am sure it isn’t! It can’t be. It does not agree in any way.’ Then came the keeper to the cage, to tell me of this new and valuable addition; but I only repeated aloud my already firm convictions.
‘Here’s the gentleman who brought it from Brazil, and he ought to know,’ returned the keeper in justifiable argument as he motioned with his hand towards a stranger by his side. The name of Dr. Arthur Stradling, a Corresponding Member of the Zoological Society, was already known to me. Though personally unacquainted, he had, indeed, through the columns of Land and Water, replied to some communications of my own. This informal introduction, therefore, led easily to the exchange of a few words about this contradictory ‘Jararaca,’ the name by which—as he assured me—the snake was known in Brazil. He had not, he said, examined the mouth of this snake during the voyage home, knowing its deadly character; and had simply accepted it as the ‘Jarraracca,’ according to its Brazilian vernacular. I ventured to point out the non-viperine aspect of the so-called ‘deadly’ reptile before us, and suggested that if it were indeed venomous it could only be an elaps, also that there were probably several that were known by this name. This led to a correspondence, both by letter and through the columns of Land and Water (Oct. 1880), on the subject of vernacular names; but as these belong more especially to the ensuing chapter, I need only say here that Dr. Stradling returned to Brazil determined to investigate this confusion of names, and I thus gained a valuable ally in my endeavours to identify some of the perplexing vernaculars of Brazil with the scientific descriptions.