446

LIFE OF COLONEL MACERONI.

and baptised him Don Francesco. At that time I kepthouse conjointly with Mr. Gill, paying one-third of theexpenses, carriages, horses, servants, &c., besides my ownvalet, groom, and saddle-horse. Mrs. Gill was a native ofRome, and one of the first amateur singers in Italy . Shereceived much company, and it was curious to see howthe ladies, who at first expressed such horror at the merename or sight of a serpent, very soon became so familiarwith my Don Francesco and his comrades, as to twine themround their necks and arms, and invent festooned deviceson their graceful persons, with those graceful animals. Thescales of these serpents are literally as smooth as glass orpolished steel; they are free from any smell, and singularlycleanly in their habits. I found, that if possibly they couldavoid it, they would never dirty the cage or basket in whichI at first confined them. Subsequently I allowed them thefree range of the house, when neither cat or dog wouldtouch them. At last it became the talk of the city, andmany of my friends begged of me to catch them ser-pents. So I supplied the Prince Colonna, Roccaromana,the Bishop Aquaviva, Ciccio Caracciolo, and several otherfriends with pet serpents, many of which, I dare say, arealive at this day. I found their favourite food to be mice, bats,or sparrows; but mice were of easier supply. All the littleboys in the neighbourhood were bringing me living mice,which, being put into a basket along with a serpent, werespeedily devoured. The serpent seizes his prey by a clumsydart, often missing his aim, and knocking his nose againstthe cage. The object once seized by the head, tail, leg, orany how, the serpent holds fast; then taking some part ofthe basket, or the leg of a chair or table, for a fulcrum, hetwists his body around the struggling prey and squeezes itto death, making the eyes and blood start out of the sockets.When all is still, then only does he venture to loose his