Uncle Dick and Lisa's Old Time Animal Tales

The following description of a contest between the black snake, and another species, is extracted from the letters of an American farmer.
One of my constant walks, when I am at leisure, says the gentleman, is in my lowlands, where I have the pleasure of seeing my cattle, horses and colts. Exuberant grass replenishes all my fields, the best representative of our wealth. In the middle of the tract, I have cut a ditch eight feet wide; on each side of this, I carefully sow every year some grains of hemp, the plants from which rise to the height of fifteen-feet, so strong and full of limbs as to resemble young trees. These produce natural arbors, rendered often still more compact by the assistance of an annual creeping plant, which we call a vine, that never fails to entwine itself among the branches, and always produces a very desirable shade. As I was one day sitting solitary and pensive, in this primitive arbor, my attention was engaged by a strange sort of rustling noise, at some paces distance. I looked all around without distinguishing anything, until I climbed up one of the hemp stalks, when to my astonishment, I beheld two snakes of considerable length, the one pursuing the other with great celerity through a hemp stubble field. The aggressor was of the black kind, six feet long; the fugitive was a water snake, nearly of equal dimensions. They soon met, and in the fury of their first encounter, appeared in an instant firmly twisted together; and, whilst their united tails beat the ground, they mutually tried, with open jaws, to lacerate each other. What a fell aspect did they present! Their heads were compressed to a very small size-their eyes flashed fire; and after their conflict had lasted five minutes, the second found means to disengage itself from the first, and hurried towards the ditch. Its antagonist instantly assumed a new position, and half creeping, half erect, overtook and attacked the other again, which placed itself in a similar style, and attempted to resist. The scene was of utmost rage; but notwithstanding this appearance of mutual courage and fury, the water snake still seemed desirous of retreating towards the ditch, its natural element. This was no sooner perceived by the keen eyed black one, than twisting its tail twice round a stalk of hemp, and seizing its adversary by the throat, not by means of its jaws,but by twisting its own neck twice around that of the water snake, he pulled it back from the ditch. To prevent defeat, the latter took hold likewise of a stalk on the bank, and by the acquisition of that point of resistance, became a match for its fierce antagonist. Strange was this to behold; two great snakes strongly adhering to the ground, mutually fastened together by means of the writhings which lashed them to each other, and stretched at their full length, they pulled, but pulled in vain; and, in the moments of greatest exertion, that part of their bodies which was entwined, seemed extremely small, while the rest appeared inflated, and now and then convulsed with strong undulations, rapidly following each other. Their eyes appeared on fire, and ready to start out of their heads. At one time the conflict seemed decided; the water snake bent itself into great folds, and by that operation rendered the other more than commonly outstretched; the next minute the new struggles of the black one gained unexpected superiority, it acquired two great folds likewise, which necessarily extended the body of the adversary, in proportion as it had contracted its own. These efforts were alternate, victory seemed doubtful, inclining sometimes to one side, and then the other, until at last the stalk to which the black snake was fastened, suddenly gave way, and, in consequence of this accident, they both plunged into the ditch. The water did not extinguish their vindictive rage, for their agitations I could still trace, though I could not distinguish their attacks. They soon reappeared on the surface, twisted together, as on their first onset; but the blacksnake seemed to retain its wonted superiority; for its head was exactly fixed above that of the other, which it incessantly pressed down under the water, until it was stifled, and sunk. The victor no sooner perceived its enemy incapable of further resistance, than abandoning it to the current, left the scene.