The differences in spelling the same word may guide us in the pronunciation of it; as, for example, the c sometimes as k, in Camoudi, or Kamoodi, and as s in Curucoocu or Sooroocoocoo. In these latter words we also find the u identical with oo, as in the Hindû or Hindoo words. Again, the j is as i in Jararaca or Iararacca, or more probably a sound with which we are unfamiliar, as the word is sometimes Shiraraca. The frequent transposition of syllables hints at a meaning which may be worth seeking by a philologist, should he be also an ophiophilist. Some local information on these points I much hoped to obtain; but alas! (for this chapter) the trips to Brazil of my excellent ally came to an end! Independently of which, the native dialects could only be studied in the far interior, where, here and there, some tribes may still be found in their pristine simplicity, though it is very doubtful whether their dialects to-day are those from which the first European settlers obtained their Curucucus and Jararacas.
The repetition of syllables in these strange dialects seems to point at some intention. Can those frequently occurring raras and cucus represent degrees? For instance, we are told that the Jarraracucu is ‘the largest of the Jarraracas.’ And we are quite sure that the Cucurijuba, ‘which killeth by winding certain turnes of his tayle,’ is the boa constrictor; and that the Cururiubù, ‘which keepeth alwaies in the water,’ is the anaconda, these syllables evidently representing bulk or something formidable: as we have them abounding in curucucu, the most formidable of all serpents. Then Ibibo might imply beauty or gay colouring. A snake, Ibiboco, with red and black rings, ‘the fairest but of foulest venom,’ is undoubtedly Elaps lemniscatus; while Ibiboboca, ‘ainsi nommé par sa grande beauté,’ is ‘harmlesse.’ Peba as a termination may imply danger; as there is the Jararacpeba, ‘most venomous,’ and a ‘very venomous’ rattlesnake, Boicinininpeba. The curious repetition of in in Boycininga, rattlesnake (p. 272), seems to hint at the length of its rattle and the degree of crepitation it produces, especially as we find the substitution of g for c in some of these words, and the soft gi rapidly repeated is not unlike the true sound.
There is a long and slender tree snake ‘that eateth eggs, and goeth faster on the trees than any man can runne on the ground, with a motion not unlike swimming.’ Its correspondingly long name is Guiaranpiaquana! Vain indeed would be any speculation as to what that may mean. Vain also, and I fear tedious, may all this guess-work be to discover meaning and poetry in what may probably be dead languages. Who shall say how many thousand years ago these singular repetitions conveyed to the savage mind (but was it savage?) an idea of the creatures around them?
CHAPTER XXIV.
DO SNAKES INCUBATE THEIR EGGS?
WE come now to treat of facts no less interesting than surprising in ophidian biographies. Already we have recounted almost marvellous powers possessed by this class of animals—functions which are volitionary, such as the management of their trachea, the voluntary folding back or unfolding of certain teeth, the practical adaptation of their ribs and coils to what we may almost call manual work, and now, most astonishing of all, the voluntary deposition or retention of ova, even of young.