A Rattlesnake Fight

A man living near Santa liona, Cal. , was the witness of a temblé contest betvecu two rattlesnakes, ono morning last August. Tlio snakes were wppped around eách other from tliè teil to within six or eight inches of the head, and tiever teto a moment did they tnke their oyen off eacli other. Njpw and thou they would slowly nnwiud to withiu ojie or two eoils of the tail, when, with aú isjstöataneous movement, they wonld again become iuvolved to the neck, and with javv.s distended and fangs exposed, one would strike at the othei, his antagonist invuviably dodging at the blow, vl.n in turn he "would be foitcd. AfuT ii']Kiting théir mañoBUvers for a Hhh' tliey would lio pantingin each otlicr's i-müm, mul Uien slowly and cautiously uuiud, only to repeat tho involveincut and striking again. íáo iiercely did íhey eáibrace each otlier that one would tlnnk eVirely the lite would be crushed out. Blow alter blow was struck on both sides, but nevcr once waa au adversaiy so lar caught olí his guard as to reeeive a blow They had been lighting over a pace of ñfteen or twenty feet, as evinced by' tüeir tracks in the dust. To all appearances they had been ñghting all night, every inch f ground bearing marks of the conflict. After looking at them for some time the. man cut a pole, some eight or ten feet long, and just then another man carne up. He took the pole, and approaching the snakes, they Bimultaneously discovered him, when, loosening theirhold of each other with marvelous rapidity, the larger one rushed at him, perfect'ly furious; it requirod the second blow to stop him. In a moment after, the second started after the other witness of the fight as his now dead antagonist had done, when he, too, was slain by a well-direeted blow. üne had sixteen and the other tifteen rattles.