"There are several venomous serpents in the Philippines, one of the most dangerous being the dajon-palay, or rice-leaf. The only antidote to its bite is to burn the wound with a red-hot iron or live coal, and this operation must be performed very quickly, to prevent the spread of the poison. There is another called the alin-morani, which is as bad as the other, and perhaps worse, as it makes a wound that is deeper, and therefore more difficult to cauterize. It grows to the length of eight or ten feet, and lives in the thickest part of the forest; its habitation may sometimes be known by observing the movements of the eagles, and the prudent hunter will keep as far away from it as possible. The eagles are its great enemy, and attack it fiercely; two of them generally fight together, and in such a case the snake has very little chance of escape."
A STAG-HUNT IN LUZON WITH HORSES AND DOGS.
[CHAPTER VII.]
HUNTING THE DEER AND WILD BOAR.—RESULTS OF THE CHASE.
A little while after the incident with the snake the party came to where the servants were waiting for them with breakfast: according to the custom of the East, the early meal taken at the house was a slight affair, so that by the middle of the forenoon one is apt to get fairly hungry. They sat down under a shady tree, and discussed the good things before them with a relish that came from the walk and ride through the open air and the excitement of the scenes of the morning. The boys were much amused at seeing the way the natives cooked their rice in a piece of bamboo, and served it up all fresh and hot. This is the process:
A green bamboo is cut in the forest, and one of the hollow joints is separated from the rest of the stalk; the rice is put inside the bamboo, with a sufficient quantity of water to cook it, and then both ends are loosely closed. The bamboo is then laid in the fire as if to burn it; it gets somewhat charred on the outside, but, before it reaches the point of burning through, the rice is cooked and ready to be poured out. Thus you can always be sure, in the region of the bamboo, of having a kettle for cooking your rice, although you have not brought one along.